Translated Texts for Historians

This series is designed to meet the needs of students of ancient and medieval
history and others who wish to broaden their study by reading source
material, but whose knowledge of Latin or Greek is not sufficient to allow
them to do so in the original language. Many important Late Imperial and
Dark Age texts are currently unavailable in translation and it is hoped that
m H will help to fill this gap and to complement the secondary literature in
English which already exists. The series relates principally to the period
300-800 AD and includes Late Imperial, Greek, Byzantine and Syriac texts
as well as source books illustrating a particular period or theme. Each
volume is a self-contained scholarly translation with an introductory essay
on the text and its author and notes on the text indicating major problems of
interpretation, including textual difficulties.
Editorial Committee
Sebastian Brock, Oriental Institute, University of Oxford
Averil Cameron, Keble College, Oxford
Henry Chadwick, Oxford
John Davies, University of Liverpool
Carlotta Dionisotti, Kings College, London
Peter Heather, University College, London
William E. Klingshim, The Catholic University of America
Michael Lapidge, Clare College, Cambridge
Robert Markus, University of Nottingham
John Matthews, Yale University
Claudia Rapp, University of California, Los Angeles
Raymond Van Dam, University of Michigan
Michael Whitby, University of Warwick
Ian Wood, University of Leeds
General Editors
Gillian Clark, University of Bristol
Mark Humphries, National University of Ireland, Maynooth
Mary Whitby, University of Liverpool
Cover illustration: SaintApollinaris, from the apse mosaic in SantApollinare in Classe, Ravenna.

A full list of published titles in the Translated Texts for Historians

series is available on request. The most recently published are
shown below.
Antioch as a Centre of Hellenic Culture, as Observed by Libanius
Translated with an introduction and notes by A. F.NORMAN
Volume34: 224pp.. 2W0, ISBN 0-85323-595-3

Neoplatonic Saints: The Lives of Plotinus and k l u s by their Students

Translated with an introduction and notes by MARK EDWARDS
Volume35: 224pp.. 2000. ISBN 0-85323-615.1

Politics, Philosophy and Empire in the Fourth Century: Select Orations of Themistius
Translated with an introduction by PETER HEATHER and DAVID MONCUR
Volume 36: 384pp.. 2001. ISBN 0-85323-106.0

A Christian's Guide to Greek Culture: The Pseudo-NonnusCommentaries on Sermons 4,

5,39 and 43 of Gregory of Nazianzus
Translated with an introduction and notes by JENNIFER NIMMO SMITH
Volume 37: 208pp..2001. ISBN 0-85323-917-7

Avitus of Vienne: Letters and Selected Prose

Translated with introduction and notes by DANUTA SHANZER and IAN WOOD
Volume 38: 472 pp.. 2002. ISBN 0-85323-588-0

Constantine and Christendom: The Oration to the Saints, The Greek and Latin accounts
of the Discovery of the Cross, The Edict of Constantine to Pope Silvester
Translated with introduction and notes by MARK EDWARDS
Volume39: 192pp.. 2003. ISBN 0-85323-648-8

Lactantius: Divine Institutes

Translated with introduction and notes by ANTHONY BOWEN and PETER GARNSEY
Volume40: 488pp.. 2003. ISBN 0-85323-988-6

Selected Letters of Libanius from the Age of Constantius and Julian

Translated with introduction and notes by SCOT BRADBURY
Volume41: 308pp., 2004, ISBN 0-85323-509.0

Cassiodorus: Institutions of Divine and Secular Learning and On the Soul

Translated with notes by JAMES W. HALPORN, introduction by MARK VESSEY
Volume 42: 316 pp.. 2w4. ISBN 0-85323-998-3

For full details of Translated Texts for Historians, including prices and
ordering information, please write to the following:
All countries, except the USA and Canada: Liverpool University Press,
4 Cambridge Street, Liverpool, L69 7ZU, UK (Tel 4-[0]151-794 2233
Fax 4 - [ 0 ] 151-7942235, Email J.M. Smith@liv.ac.uk,http://www.liverpoolunipress.co.uk). USA and Canada: University of Pennsylvania Press, 4200
Pine Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6097, USA (Tel +1-215-898-6264,
F ~ +1-2
x
15-898-0404).

Translated Texts for Historians

Volume 5

Gregory of Tours
Glory of the Confessors
Translated with an introduction and notes by
RAYMOND VAN DAM

Liverpool
University
Press

First published 1988 by

Liverpool University Press
4 Cambridge Street
Liverpool, L69 7ZU
Reprinted with corrections 2004
Copyright 0 1988,2004 Raymond Van Dam
The right of Raymond Van Dam to be identified as
the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance
with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or
by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording,
or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

British Library Cataloguing-in-PublicationData

A British Library CIP Record is available.
ISBN 0-85323-226-1

Set in Times by
Koinonia, Manchester
Printed and bound in the European Union by
Antony Rowe Ltd, Chippenham, Wiltshire

CONTENTS

Preface
Abbreviations

vii

...

Vlll

INTRODUCTION

ix

TRANSLATION

Bibliography
Index

86
93

Gregory of Tours was modest enough to concede that others would build
upon his writings; translators likewise ought to hope that their readers will
be stimulated to learn more about the original writings and their historical
context. The series Translated Texts for Historians is therefore to be commended for encouraging the initial translations into English of important
works from Late Antiquity. A Fellowship from the National Endowment for
the Humanities made it possible for me to consider translating both Gregorys
Glory of the confessors (in this volume) and his Glory of the martyrs (in a
companion volume). Gillian Clark, Christa Mee, and Ian Wood commented
on the introduction, translation, and notes. The University of Michigan now
offers access to a computer and laser printer. The National Humanities
Center provided the appropriate atmosphere; in the shade of its forest all
who have been honored to be Fellows have found, like Johannis the recluse,
an opportunity to read and write.
University of Michigan
June 1988

ABBREVIATIONS

ACW
CChrL
CSEL
LCL
MGH

Ancient Christian Writers (Westminster).

Corpus Christianorum,series latina (Turnhout).
Corpus scriptorum ecclesiasticorumlatinorum (Vienna).
Loeb Classical Library (Cambridge, Massachusetts, and London).
Monumenta Germaniae historica (Berlin, Hannover, and
Leipzig).
AA Auctores antiquissimi.
S R M Scriptores rerum merovingicarum.
NPNF A select library of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the
Christian Church, 2nd series (reprinted Grand Rapids).
PL
Patrologia Zatina (Paris); and Supplementa, ed. A. Hamman
(Paris, 1958- 1974).
PLRE The prosopography of the later Roman empire. Vol. 2, ed.
J. R. Martindale (Cambridge, 1980).
SChr Sources chrktiennes (Paris)

Writings of Gregory of Tours

GC
Glory of the confessors
GM
Glory of the martyrs
HF
Histories [History of the Franks]
Suffering and miracles of the martyr St Julian
VJ
Miracles of the bishop St Martin
VM
VP
Life of the fathers

In 573 Gregory became bishop of Tours. This promotion was not unexpected,
because since the early sixth century several of his ancestors had served as
bishops throughout central and southern Gaul. Gregory himself was born in
the late 530s and grew up in Clermont, where Gallus, his fathers brother,
was bishop. During his episcopacy Gallus enhanced the cult of St Julian by
instituting an annual pilgrimage to the saints shrine at Brioude, another town
in the Auvergne. Gregorys entire family was specially attached to the cult of
St Julian, and Gregory eventually considered himself a foster son of the
saint whom he thought of as his special patron. Gregorys family also had
distinctive connections with Tours and its cult of St Martin. In 563 Gregory
completed a difficult pilgrimage to the tomb of St Martin in his church
outside Tours where the saint cured him of a severe fever. By then Tours had
become virtually a family see. The current bishop was a cousin of Gregorys
mother, and after Gregory succeeded him, he could boast that all but five of
his predecessors had been members of his family. During the last twenty
years of his life until his death (probably) in 594,Gregory was therefore
maintaining both the familys prominence in the ecclesiastical hierarchy and
its consequential links with Tours and the cult of St Martin.
Service in the ecclesiastical hierarchy, however, only added to the
familys local influence. One of Gregorys grandfathers had still claimed the
rank of senator, a prestigious title that revived memories of five centuries of
Roman rule in Gaul. But by the later fifth century the Roman empire had
already vanished from most of Gaul as various barbarian leaders had gradually established small kingdoms. The most successful had been Clovis, who
had first ruthlessly made himself king of all the Franks in northern Gaul. His
most significant military success had been his victory in 507 over the Visigoths, who consequently abandoned most of their possessions in southern
and central Gaul and moved into Spain. At some point during his reign Clovis
also astutely converted to orthodox Catholic Christianity. Much of ,Roman
Gaul had already been converted to Catholic Christianity during the previous
1 For details about Gregory and his family, see Pietri (1983), 247-64, andVan Dam (1985).
202-17; important introductory surveys to Gregory and his writings include Krusch (1951).
Buchner (1953, and Vollmann (1983).

GLORY OF THE CONFESSORS

century. By the time of his death in 5 11, Clovis had therefore consolidated
the rule of the Franks over much of Gaul and had earned the loyalty of many
Catholic bishops and their Roman congregations.*
As Gregory grew to adulthood in the middle of the sixth century this
kingdom of the Franks sometimes looked to be on the verge of disintegration. All legitimate sons of the ruling Merovingian family expected to
receive portions of the kingdom to rule as their own mini-kingdoms. These
mini-kingdoms generally had territorial cores, but they also often included
control over individual cities scattered around Gaul. Usually several kings
were ruling concurrently; Gregory had to deal with sons, grandsons, and
great-grandsons of Clovis. Usually too these various kings were feuding
with each other and sometimes making war on each other.
Wars were in fact perhaps the primary emphasis of Gregorys writings,
and they included not only the wars of kings with their enemies, but also the
wars of martyrs with pagans and of the Catholic churches with heretics [HF
I praef.]. During his tenure as bishop of Tours Gregory wrote several works
about the wars of kings, saints, and churchmen. Near the end of his career he
listed his important works [HF X.311: I have written ten books of histories,
seven books of miracles, and one book about the life of the fathers. I wrote
one volume of commentary on the book of Psalms and one book about the
liturgical offices of the ~hurch.~
He also translated an account of the Seven
Sleepers in Ephesus: wrote a preface for a collection of liturgical masses
[HF11.221, and condensed a book about the miracles of St Andrew: With the
2 Three excellent and concise introductory discussions of early medieval Gaul are WallaceHadrill (1967). James (1982), and Geary (1988). The best surveys of the history of the church
in Gaul are Griffe (1964-1966), who covers the Roman period through the fifth century, and
Wallace-Hadrill (1983). who covers the Frankish period; see also the relevant sections in Baus,
Beck, Ewig and Vogt (1980).
3 Gregorys title for his book on the liturgical offices was somewhat misleading, since the
treatise contained first a section describing seven man-made wonders of the world and seven
natural wonders, and then a section describing the movement of the stars that was intended to
enable men to celebrate liturgical offices at the appropriate hours during the night: ed. B.
Krusch, MGH, SRM 1.2 (1885), 857-72; fxst section trans. McDermott (1975), 209-18.
4 See his Passio sanctorum martyrum septem dormientium apud Ephysum, ed. B. Krusch,
MGH, SRM 1.2 (1885). 848-53, and again in SRM 7 (1920), 761-9; and trans. McDermott
(1975), 199-206. Gregory also wrote a short account of the Seven Sleepers [GM 941.
5 For a large collection of miracle stories about St Andrew, see the Liber de miraculis beati
Andreae apostoli [MA],ed. M. Bonnet, MGH, SRM 1.2 (1885). 82646. In the preface to this
collection the author stated that he had found a book about the miracles of St Andrew that he
intended to condense into one small volume because some people had dismissed it as
apocryphal on the basis of its verbosity. Bonnet, op.cit. 821-2, argues that Gregory was the

INTRODUCTION

xi

exception of his commentary on the Psalms, of which only the introduction,

a table of contents, and a few fragments are extant,6and his preface for the
book of masses, his important literary works have survived. His ten books of
histories, now commonly (although misleadingly) known as the History of
the Franks [Hq,
are certainly the most familiar to modem readers, in part
because they provide the most detailed continuous narrative of events in
sixth-century Gaul, in part too because they have been well translated into
English (and other modem languages).
In contrast, Gregorys seven books of miracles and one book on the life
of the fathers are much less familiar to modern readers. When Gregory listed
these books again in the preface to one of them, he counted them as eight
books of miracles [GC praef.], which is how modem scholars now also customarily consider them. In Gregorys own sequence these eight books included:
1. one book entitled Glory of the martyrs [ G W , consisting of stories

about martyrs and the miracles they or their relics performed;*

2. one book entitled Suffering and miracles of the martyr St Julian [VA,
consisting of stories about the saint and his shrine at Brioude;
3-6. four books entitled Miracles of the bishop St Martin [VM 141,
consisting of stories about the patron saint of Tours and the miracles
he performed, primarily at Tours, before and during Gregorys
episcopacy;
7. one book entitled Life of the fathers [ V P ] ,consisting of a series of
short biographies of illustrious men and women in the church, almost
all of whom lived during the sixth century and among whom were
some of Gregorys own relatives; and
8. one book entitled Glory of the confessors [ G q ,consisting of stories
about confessors and the miracles they or their relics performed.
author of this condensed volume; despite lingering skepticism, others have agreed that the MA
is Gregorys adaptation of a fourth-century Latin version: see Zelzer (1977) and Prieur (1981).
6 Ed. B. Krusch, MGH, SRM 1.2 (1885). 874-7.
7 The best editions are by W. Arndt, M G H , SRM 1.1 (1885). and by B. Krusch and W.
Levison, M G H , SRM 1.1 (1937-1951); Goffart (1987) is an important discussion of title and
textual history. The most accessible English translations are Dalton (1927) and Thorpe (1974).
8 Translated by Van Dam (1988), with introduction and notes.
9 McDermott (1975), 129-95, has translated VM 1, V P 6 7 , and the prefaces to all the books
of miracles. Since Gregory once begged that his books be kept intact [HF X.311, he would
perhaps not have approved of only selections in translation.
10 Translated by James (1985). with introduction and notes.

xii

GLORY OF THE CONFESSORS

Only some of these books have been translated into English; this volume
is the first complete translation into English of the Glory ofthe confessors.
Gregory wrote most, if not all, of his surviving works during the years of his
episcopacy, His book about the glory of the confessors was perhaps one of
his last. In it he mentioned that he had already written his third book about
the miracles of St Martin [GC 61; that third book ended with a miracle that
happened in November 587, and the fourth book began with a miracle that
happened in July 588. In GC 104 Gregory mentioned the death and funeral
of Radegund, who had died in August 587. In GC 93 he emphasized that
Charimeris, who became bishop of Verdun in 588, was still now a royal
secretary. These internal allusions and cross-references therefore suggest
that Gregory was writing his book about the confessors during the winter
and spring of 587-588.
But as with most of his books, Gregory also constantly supplemented
and revised what he had already written. In GC 94 he mentioned a Vita of
Albinus that his friend Fortunatus had recently written. Fortunatus had
dedicated this Vita to bishop Domitianus of Angers, who died before 572.
Unless Gregory could disregard the passage of over sixteen years, he may
have written this chapter years earlier, perhaps when he first became bishop
in 573, and then simply reused it later without properly updating it. In
another chapter he mentioned a recent civil war in Spain that had been
fought out during the early 580s [GC 121. In GC 60 he recorded some
miracles that he had learned about from a trustworthy man who may well
have been his deacon Agiulf, who had stopped in Lyon after visiting Rome
in 590. He mentioned his archdeacon Probatus [GC 241, who could have
become archdeacon at Tours only after his predecessor became bishop of
Poitiers in 591. Gregory also intended to include three chapters [GC 1051071 that no manuscripts preserve; perhaps his own death in 594 prevented
him from writing those chapters. It is therefore likely that not only had
Gregory collected these stories throughout his life, he was probably also
writing them down over the years too, with perhaps one concentrated burst
of writing and revising around early 588: I recall a story I heard years ago
[GC 961. He eventually inserted cross-references to some of the Vitae
included in his VP [GC 15, 24, 25, 38, 921, and he obviously wrote, or at
least rewrote, the preface toward the end of his career, since in its final
1 1 For the chronology of the miracle stories in VM 2-4, see Schlick (1966) and Heinzelmann (1981).

INTRODUCTION

...

Xlll

paragraph he listed all his books of miracles [cf. GC 44].'*

It is perhaps to be expected that there is therefore no chronological
pattern to this collection of stories about confessors, their cults, and their
miracles. Gregory began with a story about a miracle performed by angels as
an evident parallel to stories about the miracles of Jesus Christ that had
initiated his book about the martyrs. He then included a story about the
power of St Hilary, the bishop of Poitiers in the mid-fourth century who is in
fact one of the earliest figures in the history of the Gallic church about whom
we have adequate reliable information, and another story about bishop
Eusebius of Vercelli, a contemporary of Hilary who was also one of the few
non-Gallic saints Gregory mentioned in this book. Thereafter Gregory
grouped his stories geographically, with stories about particular cities
clustered together. The largest cluster of stories focused, predictably, on his
episcopal see of Tours [GC4-251, followed in order by stories about Limoges,
his home town of Clermont [GC 29-36], Dijon, Bordeaux, Cieutat, Poitiers,
Saintes, Lyon, Troyes, Autun, Bourges, Chalon-sur-Sa6ne, Paris, Trier, and
Limoges again. Within these clusters Gregory allowed himself to digress
elsewhere, if the stories still concerned the same saint, and between the
clusters he included stories from other Gallic cities. Such an arrangement
obviously made it easy for Gregory to insert stories about particular shrines
or cities as he collected them; it also makes it difficult for modem scholars to
distinguish any chronological layers in the composition of the book.
For information about people and events in the past Gregory often used
books and written records. Sometimes he referred to Vitae as if he had read
them [GC 2,22,26,45,57,70,76,87,93,94,
1081; other times he referred
to Vitae he had not read [GC 35,441. In a few cases he relied upon previous
research and referred to his own books [GC 24,25,38]. Once he referred to
books that he had in fact attributed to the wrong author [GC 1081.
But since Gregory also felt, as he explicitly stated in the case of St
Martin [GC 61, that earlier writers had simply omitted events about the lives
of saints, he had no hesitation about supplementing his knowledge of past
events and people with oral traditions. As he insisted in his preface, he could
not remain silent about events from the past that trustworthy men had told
him. Occasionally Gregory specified his informants. They included old men
12 For detailed arguments about the dates of composition of the various books of miracles,
see Monod (1872), 41-5, who dates the GC to c.587-588 and its preface to 594, and especially
Krusch (1885), 45 1 - 6 , who stresses Gregory's frequent revisions.

xiv

GLORY OF THE CONFESSORS

at Clermont [GC 51, bishop Eufronius of Tours [GC 18-19], and an abbot
from Autun [GC 961. But usually his informants remained anonymous, and
Gregory simply introduced his stories about past miracles with a reference
to current opinion, a general report, or a timeworn account: it is common
knowledge among everyone [GC 661.
For information about events that happened during or shortly before his
lifetime, Gregory seems to have used hardly any written records [cf. GC 221.
Instead he relied almost exclusively upon oral traditions that included both
stories he heard from informants and plain gossip. His informants for
contemporary miracles included his mother [GC 3, 841, his friend Aredius
[GC 9-10], his archdeacon Probatus [GC 241, abbot Brachio [GC 381,
various bishops and clerics [GC 29,40,77,85], and people whom saints had
healed [GC 28,82, 1011. Gregory was clearly willing to talk with anyone; in
one instance [GC 81 he wished that the horse who had witnessed a miracle
could tell him about it! Often he seems to have initiated discussion of
miracles by asking questions [cf. GC 91, and often his questions focused on
specific relics or tombs that he visited and about which he wished to learn
more. Many of the stories Gregory included were therefore second- or thirdhand; others had collected or invented them as etiological legends that
explained the origin or efficacy of their shrines and relics, and Gregory now
simply recorded the stories once he heard them.I3
This assortment of stories can easily leave the impression that Gregory
was blissfully naive and gullible, distinguishedmore by his curiosity than by
his critical judgement. In the case of one bishop, for example, he stressed
that since there were no written records at all, he had to rely upon the reports
of local clerics in order to say something [GC 441. In another instance
Gregory claimed verification for a story merely by noting that many people
repeated it [GC 1091. But Gregorys curiosity and dedication also sometimes
turned him into an amateur archaeologist and epigrapher. He made deductions about some saints on the basis of the scenes carved on their tombs or
the appearance of the tombs [GC 34,411, and he examined the inscriptions
on tombs and doors [GC 35,61, 1031. Once he even acknowledged ignorance and conceded that neither gossip nor a written document could identify
the girl in a tomb [GC 341. For in the end it was more important that men
have their achievementsrecorded in heaven [GC 351; God could adequately
compensate for Gregorys deficiencies as an historian.
13 For discussion of Gregorys sources and his reliability as an historian, see Kurth (1919).

II: 1 17-206

INTRODUCTION

xv

Because Gregory relied largely upon oral traditions for both past and
contemporary events, his book about the confessors provides little reliable
information about the early history of Christianity in Gaul. He recorded
some traditions about third-century bishops and saints, although their
accuracy is dubious [GC 4,27,29,79]. He had more information about the
fourth century, largely because of the prominence and importance of bishop
Hilary of Poitiers and bishop Martin of Tours. In particular Gregory
included a series of apparently apocryphal stories about bishop Martin [GC
4-10, 22, 45, 561. For the fifth century Gregory again had comparatively
more traditions to record, perhaps because the time of the Huns [GC 7 11, as
well as the invasions of other barbarian tribes into Gaul, had deeply
impressed contemporaries and provided a conspicuous reference point for
subsequent oral traditions. But most of the people Gregory mentioned lived
during the sixth century, and most of the miracles happened then; so in terms
of both events and traditions the GC was a remarkably contemporary book.
It was also a notably parochial book that probably well reflected the
limited geographical horizons of Gregory himself. In contrast to his book
about the martyrs, many of whom had lived in the East, this book about the
confessors mentioned only one eastern saint. In fact, the chapter about
Symeon, a stylite saint who lived on his pillar near Antioch during the fifth
century [GC 261, seems quite out of place sandwiched between chapters
about a sixth-century abbot at Tours and a third-century bishop of Limoges.
Usually when Gregory recorded events outside Gaul, there was a Gallic
connection. He mentioned one bishop from Italy, probably because some of
his relics were now to be found in Gregorys mothers house [GC 31, and he
included some stories from Spain that followed from his discussion of the
cult of St Martin [GC 12-14] and from Rome that involved a Gallic cleric
[GC 621. He also discussed Paulinus of Nola, a Gallic aristocrat who had
once met St Martin before becoming a bishop in Italy [GC 1081. Excepting
one other chapter recording a miracle that happened somewherein a port on
the sea [GC 1091, the other stories all focused on Gallic cities.
Of these Gallic cities, Clermont and its vicinity were important as the
region of Gregorys youth, and many of the stories he recorded about its
shrines were based on traditions he had heard or experiences he had had
while he was growing up [GC 30, during my youth]. But once Gregory was
cured at the tomb of St Martin in 563 [VM 1.32-31, and even more so after he
became bishop there in 573, Tours was for him the most important city in
Gaul. In his perspective, other Gallic cities and other saints cults seem to
have surrounded his see in a series of concentric arcs. Gregory was most

xvi

GLORY OF THE CONFESSORS

familiar with cities in central Gaul, to many of which he traveled during his
life;I4but in the GC he also recorded stories he had heard from cities as far
north as Maastricht and Trier, as far west as Nantes and Rennes, as far south
as Bordeaux, Cieutat, and Embrun, and as far east as Lyon and Chalon-surS d n e . Significantly, as the episcopal guardian of the see of St Martin
Gregorys interest in, knowledge of, and travels to other Gallic cities seem to
have approximated closely to the influence of the cult of St Martin. A map
plotting the cities with which Gregory was familiar, either first-hand through
visiting or second-hand by report, might well correspond to maps plotting
both the origins of pilgrims who travelled to the tomb of St Martin at Tours
and the diffusion of shrines elsewhere dedicated to the saint.15
From the contemporary and parochial aspects of this book about the
confessors it also follows that the GC was an intimately personal book. In
fact, because Gregory had visited many of the shrines where he heard
stories, had seen the relics, or had been a direct participant in or eyewitness
to some of the events, this collection of the miracles of the confessors was
one of his most autobiographical books. When Gregory visited various
shrines, he often did so because of some personal or familial connections.At
Lyon he was escorted around the various shrines by bishop Nicetius, his
great-uncle, who told him a story about another bishop [GC 611. Since
Gregory also recorded miracles that St Nicetius worked after his death [GC
601, his great-uncle is an interesting case of someone who was both an informant for and a subject of the GC. At Dijon where Gregory received a cure for
blisters on his hands, he was also visiting a see where a great-grandfather
and another great-uncle had been bishops and where his own brother had
been a priest [GC 431. His mother seems to have accompanied him to
Chalon-sur-Sa6ne [GC 841. When Gregory visited Auxerre, he went in the
company of bishop Avitus of Clermont, who had once been one of his
teachers [GC 40, VP 2 praef.].
Some of the stories also derived from Gregorys personal experiences
and thus indicate his lifelong commitment to cults of saints. Gregory rarely
mentioned his father, who seems to have been a generation older than
Gregorys mother and who died when Gregory was still a boy. But once the
young Gregory had been able to relieve his fathers gout by applying a
14 For lists of the cities Gregory visited, see Monod (1872), 36-7, Kurth (1919). II: 149-50,
and Vieillard-Troiekouroff (1976), 455, with map at p. 454.
15 For the origins of pilgrims, see the map in Lelong (1960), 233, with the complete
discussion in Pietri (1983), 521-99. For the shrines of St Martin, see the map in VieillardTroiekouroff (1976), 448, with the discussion of Ewig (1961).

INTRODUCTION

xvii

remedy he had learned about in a vision [GC 391. Perhaps when he was
young Gregory had listened to old men at Clermont telling stories about
various saints [GC 5, 301 and watched as people were healed at shrines or
treated saints with disrespect [GC 32,351. Once he became bishop of Tours,
however, he became the guardian not only of the cult of St Martin, but also
of traditions about the saint. Gregory felt compelled to register those
traditions, because the saints contemporary miracles proved the historicity
of his past miracles [GC 61. He therefore recorded anecdotes about St Martin
that are elsewhere unattested, among them stories about a stone on which the
saint had sat [GC 61, a tree he had put upright and a vine he had planted [GC
7, 101, oratories in which he had prayed [GC4,8], places he had visited [GC
5, 451, and various students of the saint [GC 22, 45, 561. He then
supplemented those traditions by recording contemporary miracles: I recall
that this happened during my lifetime [GC 61. He also contributed to the
cult of St Martin by dedicating a new oratory at Tours with his relics as well
as those of other saints [GC 201. For Gregory always took care to extend his
contacts with saints by visiting various shrines elsewhere, and even received
miraculous cures at them [GC 45,65,73]. One of his most prized relics was
the staff of St Medard from Soissons [GC 931.
In this book about the miracles of confessors Gregory rather strangely never
defined who confessors were and how these particular saints had come to be
ranked as confessors. This reticence might perhaps be another indication
that this book was a late composition, since elsewhere he had defined confessors and so perhaps took it for granted that others would know. Martyrs
were people, usually from past centuries, who had witnessed for their faith
during persecutions often by suffering and dying; confessors, among them
Gregorys contemporaries, had had to create their own opportunities for
persecution. Because a moment of persecution did not stimulate them to
martyrdom, the confessors of Christ served as persecutors of themselves and
applied the various tortures of abstinence so as to be considered worthy of
God; they mortified their bodies so as to live for Christ alone [VP 2 praef.].
This definition of confessors essentially stressed disciplined attitudes and
rigorous behavior, and as such it was similar to Gregorys redefinition of
martyrdom, whose relevance he had recast not in terms of physical suffering
but in terms of moral resistance: by resisting vices you will be considered a
martyr [GM 1061.l6 By persecuting themselves confessors became
16 Delehaye (1927), 74-121, discusses the relationship between martyr and confessor.

xviii

GLORY OF THE CONFESSORS

contemporary martyrs. Because Gregorys definition of confessors was

not dependent upon particular circumstances, its potential application was
considerable; and, in fact, his collection included stories not only about great
bishops and abbots, but also about the l k o Lovers [GC 311, an anonymous
monk [GC 371, a woman who retrieved a martyrs sandal [GC 631, a hermit
who died after he fell from an apple tree [GC 801, and another old hermit
who cooked his food in a wooden pot [GC 961.
In some of Gregorys other books he had presented saints as exemplars
of correct behavior and as the embodiments of proper virtues. In the GC
Gregory also narrated some stories for the instruction of believers [GC 201,
and he sometimes explicitly encouraged certain attitudes such as chastity,
generosity, and respect for the clergy [GC 301 and condemned others: I ask
that you who read these words cease from these activities, cease and do not
participate in such behavior! [GC 1101. One story even reads as if it may
have been used as a homily during the celebration of the liturgy. This story
began and ended with a passage (lectio) from the Bible that Gregory then
elaborated in terms of the life and career of the saint [GC 1081. Through
their own exemplary lives these confessor saints therefore proved that it was
possible to imitate, equal, and even surpass the lives of earlier martyrs and
saints. Yet overall this book about the confessors was less didactic than
Gregorys collection of Vitae of saints, the VP; in those Vitae he intended to
expand some of the brief accounts in his GC [VP praef.], and in the prefaces
to each of the Vitae he had discussed and promoted various virtues. It was
also less liturgical than his book about martyrs, the GM, parts of which may
have been used during the celebration of martyr saints festivals. In fact, at
the conclusion of this collection of stories about the confessors Gregory
seems to have imagined that people would read the book privately, rather
than hear it being read aloud in public [GC 1101.
Gregory instead emphasized what these confessor saints could do for
people who respected and honored them after their deaths [GC 441. Because
of their distinguished lives, these saints had become friends of God [GC
21,44, 1001 who now lived with Christ in Paradise [GC 52,851: with the
other saints he flourishes in heaven like a palm tree [GC 501. These saints
therefore served as mediators with God [GC 21 whose intercession could
channel his divine power to assist people [GC 281. More specifically, for
cities saints served as special patrons [GC 65, 681 who warded off both
enemy attacks and the spread of the plague. For individuals saints protected
possessions entrusted to their guardianship [GC 31 and supported people
against accusations: one saint literally reached out from his tomb to embrace

INTRODUCTION

xix

a man being threatened by a judge [GC 61; cf. 661. The most evident way for
saints to exhibit their power was through the miracles that happened usually
at their tombs: the saint continually demonstrates through his miracles that
he lives in eternity [GC 151.
To activate this miraculous power all people had to do was pay their
respects and ask for the saints assistance: have pity on us, confessor of
God [GC 451. Gregorys collection of stories was intended both to illustrate
that proper respect and to promote it by concrete examples. In this book
about the confessors he occasionally referred to the notion of rusticitus,a
word that he used in various senses. One sense was fairly literal, since rustici
were simply peasants or woodsmen who lived a rustic life in the countryside
[GC 30, 621. Another sense carried intellectual and cultural overtones, so
that rusticitus could imply ignorance of high, classical culture and in particular of grammatically correct Latin. In this sense most people in Gaul were
rustics, since familiarity with classical literature and correct Latin had
become increasingly restricted in Frankish Gaul. Gregory was generally
sympathetic to this sort of ignorance, not least because he could even accuse
himself of rusticity by conceding that people might rightly criticize his
own literary gracelessness [GC ~raef.1.~
Yet, although he was no doubt unable to improve his style and syntax even if he had wished, Gregory perhaps
preferred to write in this rustic style. As his mother once reminded him, at
least people understood him [VM 1 praef.]: few understand a rhetorician
talking about philosophy, but many understand a man speaking simply [HF
praef.]. Gregorys rustic style therefore matched the rusticity of many
members of his congregation.
But another, more highly charged sense of the word conjured up pejorative religious and moral overtones; what Gregory in this sense often referred
to as cruda rusticitus implied both the rejection of Christianity and improper, if not clearly immoral, behavior and attitudes. Even as he provided
models of exemplary behavior in the lives of the confessor saints, Gregory
also provided models of improper behavior in his examples of people who
perjured themselves at the tombs of saints or simply failed to respect the
saints. Because of their coarse rusticity some people rejected a bishops
preaching of Christianity or refused to initiate a cult at a saints tomb [GC 2,
291, one man perjured himself at a saints tomb [GC 281, and another man
decided to brew beer during a saints festival [GC SO]. This sense of the word
tended to be rather dismissive and callous; as far as Gregory was concerned,
17 Le Goff (1980) and Stock (1983). 27-8.

xx

GLORY OF THE CONFESSORS

these disrespectful people actually deserved to suffer misfortune: 0coarse

rusticity, because you always murmur against God and his friends, you
receive catastrophe upon yourself [GC 801. Since bishops and other clerics
tended to cast themselves as the guardians of saints cults, they could also
impose this distinction between proper and improper behavior to their own
advantage. So one further purpose behind the GC might well have been an
attempt to define and enforce correct behavior and proper attitudes by emphasizing their opposites that were characteristic of this penumbra of
coarse rusticity. The relentless expansion of Christianity included a process of grooming that was intended to discipline both outward conduct and
inner dispositions into conformity with the directives of bishops and other
churchmen.l8
Although Gregorys Latin is usually straightforwardly comprehensible, it
also poses many difficulties. Some of the difficulties are due to his style.
Gregory tended to be verbose and sometimes lost the pacing and logic of a
story or even of a sentence by multiplying subordinate clauses and digressions
and by relying on passive verbs, abstract nouns, and clusters of synonyms.
His style and manner of presentation often seem closer to the sweeping flow
and colloquialism of a sermon or oral discourse than to the concentrated
precision of a rewritten narrative. Other difficulties are due to Gregorys
inadequate command of Latin. He himself admitted that he did not fully
understand the subtleties of Latin syntax and that his prose made him look
like a lumbering ox [GC praef.]. In its failure to understand nuances and
details a translation faces the same accusation. But Gregory already provided a defense for both his own writings and subsequent translations.
Although he knew he might embarrass himself, his love and fear of Christ
compelled him to write. Even better trained writers could benefit from his
stories, because at the very least they would find material that they could
then rewrite in verse [GC praef.]. Modem readers of Gregory too, rather than
faulting him for mistakes and obscurities, should instead be grateful for the
copious and remarkable information he has provided about late Roman and
early Merovingian Gallic society and in particular its contemporary cults of
saints. Since the notes are meant merely to provide essential information,
18 Brown (1981). 119-27, discusses the role of saints cults in the process of socialization
implied by the expansion of Christianity: from late antiquity onwards, the upper-class culture
of Europe would always measure itself against the wilderness of a rusticifus which it had itself
played no small part in creating (p.124). Mitchell (1987) describes Gregorys saints as the
ethical models of moral leadership.

INTRODUCTION

xxi

identifications, and cross-references to Gregorys other writings, and since

in consideration of the potential readership they refer primarily to books and
articles written in English or French, they can only hint at the possibilities
for subsequent research that Gregorys books of miracles offer.
This translation is based on the great edition of Gregorys books of
miracles published by Bruno Krusch in 1885. Previous editions had included one by Thieny Ruinart published in 1699 that was reprinted in
Putmlogia Latinu vo1.71, ~01.827-910. In 1860-1862 H.L. Bordier published
a text and a French translation of the whole of the GC. Modem scholars still
rightly use both Ruinarts edition in PL and. Bordiers text and translation;
but it is important to note that the numbering of the chapters in these earlier
editions of the GC differs from that in the edition by Krusch, which this
translation follows. One obvious consequence that readers should additionally note is that modem scholars who do not use Kruschs edition will
refer in their own books and articles to chapter numbers in the GC that differ
from those here. The one change from Kruschs edition has to do with the
cupitulu. Gregory provided a list of headings for each of his books. Rather
than list them as Gregory (and Krusch) did as a table of contents, this
translation has included them as introductory headings for each chapter.
Krusch was one of the great scholars of Frankish Gaul, and his editions
of the writings of Gregory were a monumental achievement. In 1890 Max
Bonnet published a book on Gregorys Latin that is still an essential commentary both on Gregorys writings and on Kruschs edition. In 1920 Krusch
collated additional manuscripts that included readings that are better or
more sensible that those in his original edition of Gregorys books of
miracles; but unfortunately he did not extend his collation far enough to
include the GC.I9Although between 1937 and 1951 Krusch and W. Levison
published a new edition of the HF, there has been little work on the text of
the GC since Kruschs edition. A new, properly collated and edited text of all
of Gregorys Books of Miracles would be most useful; equipped with a
translation and a detailed linguistic and historical commentary in the manner
of many of the wonderful editions in the series Sources Chrktiennes, it
would be indispensable.

19 B. Krusch, Appendix. Tomus I. Georgii Florentii Gregorii episcopi Turonensis libri VIII
miraculorum, in MGH, SRM 7 (1920) 707-72.

TRANSLATION
Here auspiciously begins the book [entitled] Glory of the confessors.
It is shameful for a man who is foolish, fraudulent, ignorant, and lazy to
undertake what he cannot accomplish. But what am I to do? I forbid concealment of the miracles of the blessed [saints] that I have myself often seen
or of the events that obviously happened and that I learned about from an
account by trustworthy men and of certain reliability. But because I do not
possess the arts of rhetoric or the skill of grammar, I am afraid that when I
have begun to write educated men will criticize me: 0ignorant and uneducated man, why do you think to place your name among [those of other]
writers? Do you think that this work is to be accepted by experts? Familiarity with style does not support you, nor does any knowledge of literature
assist you. You have no useful foundation in literature and you do not know
how to distinguish nouns, because often you confuse feminine with
masculine, neuter with feminine, and masculine with neuter nouns. Often
you do not use in the proper place those prepositions that the authority of
distinguished experts fixed for observation; for you substitute accusatives
for ablatives and again ablatives for accusatives. Do you think it proper for
a lumbering ox to play at some game in the exercise yard or a sluggish donkey
to dash among the ranks of a ball game in swift flight? Or can a raven indeed
conceal his blackness with the wings of white doves? Can the darkness of tar
be changed to the color of flowing milk? Just as it is impossible for these
events to happen, so of course you cannot be ranked with other writers.
But I will nevertheless respond to these criticisms and say: I am doing
[the same] task as you, and by my [literary] incompetence I will engage your
1 Gregory was a modest man, and he once claimed that he had begun to write his books of
history in his unsophisticatedbabbling only because the study of literature had so declined in
Gaul that no one was educated enough to take up the task [HF praef.]. In fact, his own
familiarity with classical literature was limited: see Bonnet (1890), 48-53, Kurth (1919), I: 1-29,
and especially Rich6 (1976), 177-210, for the wider context of the survival of classical culture
in southern and central Gaul. Near the end of his life Gregory conceded that his books might be
rewritten into verse, so long as they were kept intact [HF X.311. He also exchanged some
correspondence with his friend the poet Fortunatus about the possibility of having some of his
writings versified [see GC 221.

GLORY OF THE CONFESSORS

wisdom. For I think that these writings will offer you one benefit: what I
describe unskillfully and briefly in an obscure style, you will amplify in
verse standing clearly and sumptuously on longer pages.
In a first book [ G M I therefore included some of the miracles of the
Lord, the holy apostles, and the other martyrs. These miracles had been
unknown until now, [but] God deigned to increase them daily to strengthen
the faith of believers. For it was surely improper that they disappear from
memory. In a second book [Vd I wrote about the miracles of St Julian. [I
wrote] four books [VM 1-41 about the miracles of St Martin, and a seventh
[VP] about the life of some blessed [saints]. I am writing this eighth book
about the miracles of the confessors. I specifically request of the reader that,
because no familiarity with style and no facility with words assist me (as I
have often admitted), he graciously grant indulgence to my boldness.
Worldly arrogance does not compel me to write; rather, embarrassment
forces me to be silent, but love and fear of Christ compel me to repay [my
gratitude]. Since I began the first book with miracles of the Lord, I wish to
provide for this book an introduction about the miracles of the holy angels.
1. The miracles of angels .

While I was living in the territory of Clermont, a trustworthy man talked

with me; I know that he told the truth because I knew that what he said had
certainly happened. He said that he gave orders that a drink be brewed for
the reapers from grain soaked and boiled in water. [The historian] Orosius
wrote that this brew was called caelia because of the cooking? The man
delayed in the city. When the drink had been prepared and stored in a container, the servants, as is characteristic, drank most of it and left only a little
for the intentions of the lord. The lord relied upon his instructions and ordered
the reapers to be invited, so that when he returned from the city he might find
them cutting his corn. This was done, and about seventy workers were gathered
in the cornfield. The lord of the estate arrived and inspected the quality and
the quantity of the drink; but he found only a little bit. The lord was embarrassed because he determined that no more than five measures were left.3
2 In the early fifth century the Spanish historian Orosius had composed a polemical History
against the pagans that surveyed both Roman history and the history of the church. Gregory
found Orosius survey useful for information about past events [HF I praef., II praef., V praef.];
here he referred to a passage from Orosius, Hisforiaeadversumpaganos V.7.that described the
concoction of some sort of beer: ed. C. Zangemeister, CSEL 5 (1882), 294-5, and trans. LW.
Raymond, Seven books of hisrory against the pagans. The apology of Paulus Orosius (New
York, 1936). 220, with Weidemann (1982), E369.
3 Five modii, about forty-six quarts: see Weidemann (1982) IL342-3.

TRANSLATION

Thinking that this had been done to shame him, so that there would not be
enough drink for the workers, he was uncertain what to do or where to turn.
Finally, with the inspiration of the Lord he turned to the container and
piously recited over its mouth the names of the holy angels that the sacred
readings taught. He prayed that their power deign to transform this pittance
into an abundance, so that the workers would not lack something to drink.
[What happened next is] extraordinary to report! Throughout the entire day
drinkers never lacked [drink] drawn from this container. Until nightfall
ended work, drink was served in abundance to everyone.
2. St Hilary, bishop of Poitiers
In the fourth year of his exile the most blessed Hilary returned to his own
city [of Poitiers] and, after completing the passage of his [lifes] good work,
migrated to the Lord. Many miracles are said to be shown at his blessed
tomb, which the book of his life has recorded. Two lepers were also cleansed
in the same place!
In the territory of Javols there was a mountain named after Hilary that
contained a large lake. At a fixed time a crowd of rustics went there and, as
if offering libations to the lake, threw [into it] linen cloths and garments that
served men as clothing. Some [threw] pelts of wool, many [threw] models of
cheese and wax and bread as well as various [other] objects, each according
to his own means, that I think would take too long to enumerate. They came
with their wagons; they brought food and drink, sacrificed animals, and
feasted for three days. But before they were due to leave on the fourth day, a
violent storm approached them with thunder and lightning. The heavy
rainfall and hailstones fell with such force that each person thought he would
not escape. Every year this happened this way, but these foolish people were
tied up in their mistake. Much later a cleric from that city [of Javols] became
bishop and went to the place. He preached to the crowds that they should
cease this behavior lest they be consumed by the wrath of heaven. But their
4 Hilary (Helarius or Hilarius) served as bishop of Poitiers from c.350 until 367 or 368. He
distinguished himself by his opposition to Arianism: see Griffe (1964-1966), I:218-70. The
book of his life to which Gregory referred was probably the viru S. Hilarii written by
Fortunatus: ed. B. Krusch, MGH, AA 4.2 (1885). 1-7. But the miracle of the two lepers was
recorded in Fortunatus, Liber de virrufibus S. Hilurii 11-14: ed. B. Krusch, op.cit. 8-9.
Fortunatus dedicated both books to bishop Pascentius of Poitiers. Since Pascentius successor,
Maroveus, was already bishop of Poitiers by the time Radegund acquired relics of the True
Cross in 568-569 [GC 1041, Fortunatus must have composed these books soon after his arrival
in Gaul in 566: see Meyer (1901). 23, and Brennan (1985). 61-2.

GLORY OF THE CONFESSORS

coarse rusticity rejected his preaching. Then, with the inspiration of the
Divinity this bishop of God built a church in honor of the blessed Hilary of
Poitiers at a distance from the banks of the lake. He placed relics of Hilary in
the church and said to the people: Do not, my sons, do not sin before God!
For there is [to be] no religious piety to a lake. Do not stain your hearts with
these empty rituals, but rather acknowledge God and direct your devotion to
his friends. Respect St Hilary, a bishop of God whose relics are located here.
For he can serve as your intercessor [for] the mercy of the Lord. The men
were stung in their hearts and converted. They left the lake and brought
everything they usually threw into it to the holy church. So they were freed
from the mistake that had bound them. Next the storm was banned from the
place. After the relics of the blessed confessor were placed there, the storm
never again threatened this festival of God.5

3. St Eusebius, bishop of Vercelli

Bishop Eusebius of Vercelli was a great supporter of Hilary against heresies.6He shows that he is still alive after his burial by his current miracles.
For although many ill people are cured on his anniversary day, possessed
people dance throughout the entire church in violent spins and believe that
they are afflicted with powerful torments. They leap in the air and with their
hands strike and break the lamps that are burning as lights. Once they are
soaked with the oil from a lamp, immediately the demon leaves and the
people are cleansed. Then the congregation knows that the number of ill
people who have been healed matches the number of lamps that it sees are
broken. The saint guards everything that his church owns with such a devout
protection, lest someone steal something from it. For you might see that even
among unjust enemies no one touches the herds of cattle, horses, and sheep
when the voice has sounded: These belong to the confessor Eusebius.
My mother placed relics of this saint in the oratory of her own house.7
5 This lake may have been the lake of Saint-AndCol, in the Aubrac mountains: see VieillardTroiekouroff (1976), 246. The bishop who opposed these pagan sacrifices may have been
Hilarius (or Hilarus), bishop of Javols in the early sixth century; if so, then he was here
honoring his namesake: see Duchesne (1894-1915), E54-5.
6 Eusebius was bishop of Vercelli in the middle of the fourth century. Gregory considered
Hilary and Eusebius as important representativesof orthodox Catholic theology and once cited
their dual authority in opposition to the idiosyncratic theological views of king Chilpenc [HF

v.441.
7 The location of this house is uncertain. Gregory occasionally visited his mother in
terretorium Cavellonensis urbis [VM3.601. Given Gregorys erratic spelling, it is not obvious
what city he meant here. Some have identified this city as Cabillonum, i s . Chalon-sur-SaGne:

TRANSLATION

One day during winter it happened that she was enjoying a conversation
during the long night and sat for a long time before the fireplace, which was
arranged with a large pile of logs. When the rest of the household went to
sleep, she arose and laid herself on a bed not far from this fire. While
everyone was asleep, sparks of fire jumped to the rafters. One of the rafters
was set on fire and began to scatter flames widely. But I believe that because
of the power of St Eusebius, whose relics were nearby, the flame was curved
and twisted from above, contrary to nature. The fire did not spread to the
roof, as is common, but flowed down, so that you might think that pelts of
wool, not flames, were hanging from the beam. Even though the blazing fire
spread over the beam, it did not bum it until my mother awoke, called her
servants, and extinguished the fire by throwing water on it. If the power of
the blessed saint had been lacking, the entire house could easily have been
burned by this frre while everyone was asleep.
4. St Martin, bishop of Tours, and the tomb of St Catianus
I have learned from current opinion that bishop Catianus was sent by the
Roman bishops to Tours and was entrusted as the first bishop of Tours.8
Once when the blessed Martin came to pray at his tomb, he poured out his
requests, recited the verses [of psalms], and said: Bless me, man of God. As
he said this, a voice was heard descending to him. It said: Servant of God, I
request that you bless me. After Martin prayed again, he left. Those who
were present at the time were surprised and said that he who had once
summoned Lazarus from his tomb was now dwelling in Martin.
see Pietri (1983), 253 n.40. This seems the most plausible identification; note that Gregorys
mother once seems to have accompanied him to visit a shrine in Chalon-sur-Sahe [GC 841.
But others have identified the city as Cabellio, i.e. Cavaillon, and then located the oratory at
Cabrihres: see Vieillard-Troiekouroff(1976). 73.76.
8 On the basis of the chronology in a History of the suffering of the martyr St Saturninus
and other unspecified evidence, Gregory elsewhere claimed that seven men had been
consecrated as bishops and sent to preach in Gaul during the middle of the third century [HF
1.301: see Levillain (1927).These seven missionaries included (in Gregorys order) Catianus (or
Gatianus) of Tours, Trophimus of Arles, Paulus of Narbonne, Saturninusof Toulouse [GM 471,
Dionysius of Paris [GM711, Stremonius of Clermont [GC 291, and Martialis of Limoges [GC
271. The accuracy of this chronology for Catianus is suspect, however, since Martin, who
became bishop in 371, was according to Gregory only the third bishop of Tours [HF X.311.
Gregory resolved the discrepancy by stating that the see was vacant for thirty-seven years after
Catianus episcopacy [HF X.311: see Pietri (1983), 17-33.
9 In this and subsequent chapters Gregory included some apparently apocryphal legends
about Martin of Tours. The most important sources for information about what men believed to

GLORY OF THE CONFESSORS

5. The same saint and the tomb of the virgin Vitalina

Often I have heard old men saying that a similar event happened at
Artonne, a village in the temtory of Clermont. A nun named Vitalina was
buried in this place. The blessed Martin came to her tomb and gave a greeting. But she requested that he might deign to bless her. After they prayed, the
blessed man turned and said: Holy virgin, tell me, have you already
deserved [to be in] the presence of the Lord? She said: One misfortune that
seemed insignificant in the world is an obstacle for me. On the [Good]
Friday when we know that the redeemer of the world suffered, I washed my
face in water. As the blessed confessor left the tomb of the virgin, he said to
his companions: Woe to us, who live in this world! If this virgin who was
dedicated to Christ incurred this obstacle because she washed her face on
[Good] Friday, what are we to do, whom a deceitful world every day
persuades to commit sins? In that village the blessed man performed many
deeds that I think it would take too long to include.
When the man of God left the village of Artonne, he journeyed to Clermont. The senators of that city, who in that place were then distinguished by
a pedigree of Roman nobility, heard that the holy man was approaching the
city. In order to meet him they went out with horsemen, coaches, chariots,
and wagons. Martin was riding a donkey and seated on a very plain saddle.
When he came to the summit of a ridge at Saint-Bonnet from which the
location of the village of Riom was visible, he saw these people approaching
have been the historical Martin were the writings of SulpiciusSeverus, a younger contemporary
of Martin who wrote a Era and Diulogi about him: ed. C. Halm, CSEL 1 (1866). and trans. A.
Roberts, NPNF 2nd series, 1 1 (reprinted 1973). with Stancliffe (1983). Gregory had read
Sulpicius books [VM 1.1, GC 201; but neither Sulpicius nor other early writers had mentioned
these particular legends, many of which eitherjustified the potency of certain objects and relics
or explained the importance of certain shrines.Yet Gregory showed no hesitation or uncertainty
about including the legends. Sulpicius had already admitted that he had omitted information
about Martin: see his Era Martini 1.7-9, 26.1, and Dialogi 11.14.8,ed. Halm, op.cit. 1 1 I, 136,
198, and trans. Roberts, op.cit. 4, 16,46. Gregory in contrast emphasized that he would not do
likewise [GC 61; and he furthermore claimed to possess huge volumes cataloguing the
miracles of bishop Martin [HF 11.11. Due to the circulation of these additional legends and their
revised contemporary meanings and functions, the image of St Martin current in the later sixth
century was therefore a transformation of earlier images of the saint: see Fontaine (1976) and
Van Dam (1988a).
10 Although contemporary councils prohibited people from working and various other
activities on Sundays and festival days in honor of saints, Gregorys miracle stories provide
many examples of people who insulted these days [HF X.301 and became ill or suffered
disaster [cf. GC 80,971: see Wood (1979). 62-5, and Van Dam (1985), 285-8.

TRANSLATION

him in this procession. He said: What do these people who are approaching
us with this magnificence intend for themselves? A man who had arrived
earlier replied: The senators of Clermont are coming to meet you. Martin
said to him: It is not my [intention] to enter their city with this ostentatious
parade. Immediately he turned the bridle of the donkey around and began to
depart on the road by which he had come. But the men [of Clermont] followed
him and humbly begged that he visit their city; they said: We have heard
about the reputation of your holiness. For there are many ill people whom
you ought to visit. Although they were unable to convince him, Martin laid
his hands on the ill people who had come and restored them to health. He
returned to the village of Artonne. Even now there is a railing around the
spot where the saint is said to have stood.
Afterwards Martin went to the tomb of the virgin and said: Vitalina,
blessed sister, rejoice now, because after three days you will be presented to
the majesty of the Lord. Then he left that place. Many then saw the virgin in
a vision; she offered them the benefits they sought and announced the day of
her death on which her memory would be celebrated. This must be understood in no other way than that she had deserved [to be in] the presence of
the Lords majesty because of the plea of the blessed bishop and could then
make these announcements.
Once after the vigils had been celebrated in her honor Eulalius, the
archpriest of the place, invited the clerics to a meal. But another priest
named Edatius had prepared food for widows and other poor people. One
lacked fish, the other some good wine. In a dream the virgin advised a fisherman to bring a supply of fish to the archpriest. The fisherman rose from his
bed and discovered in his weir a huge pike which he brought where he had
been ordered. Likewise the virgin appeared in a vision to the priest Edatius
and said: Go, and you will find a small gold coin beneath a tree in the
courtyard. After presenting the gold coin you will purchase wine worthy of
a meal for the poor. The priest mentioned what he had seen to no one; but he
went out, looked, and found [the gold coin]. He bought wine and nourished
1 1 Although Gregory had probably heard this story about Martins failure to visit Clermont
from old men, it had special significance for him after he became bishop of Tours in 573.
During an attempt to oust Gregory in 580 a rival claimed to be cleansing Tours of those
people from Clermont. Gregory insisted that he was not an interloper at Tours and responded
by pointing out that most of the preceding bishops of Tours had been members of his family
[HFV.49].This particular miracle story would also have been useful for his case, since it neatly
explained why the patron saint of his own episcopal see had never visited the city of which he
was a native son: excessive veneration, not indifference or lack of respect, had caused Martin to
turn back from Clermont.

GLORY OF THE CONFESSORS

the poor of Christ. In this way the power of the virgin appeared to both men
and enriched both with the commodities that were lacking.
6. The stone on which the saint [Martin] sat
Martin performed many deeds in this world, most of which the writers of
his life have omitted. For they tried to anticipate the disdain of critics, lest
they not be believed by those who often wish to attack the holiness of good
men with their poisonous tongues. But I who, even though unworthy, every
day see his miracles at his tomb-for ill people, not healthy people, have
need of a doctor [cf. Matthew 9: 12, Mark 2:17]-I think it ridiculous if1 am
silent about those events that I have learned he obviously did in the past. But
if there is still someone who does not believe and is so envious that he does
not accept these facts, let him go the the church [of St Martin at Tours].
Every day he will see both new miracles and repetition of what happened
long ago. I have already written a third book about the deeds of Martin [VM
31. But lest this book [the G q be deprived of his miracles, I have decided to
include in it some of the stones that are clearly known to me; for there are
many events that are still unknown, as I have often stated.
In the church mentioned above that the believers built in his honor there
is still a stone on which the blessed man is said to have sat. Many years later
a priest named Leo moved the holy stone from its spot in order to set down
his own tomb. Immediately he returned to his house with a tremor, was
struck by a fever, and died on the third day. It was clear that bishop Martin
had been insulted. I recall that this happened during my lifetime."

7. The tree that was raised up

In Neuillk-le-Lierre, a village in the temtory of Tours, there was a tree that
fell over during a strong wind and blocked the public road. When the blessed
Martin was traveling on this road and noted that the way was blocked by this
fallen tree, he was moved by pity. He made the sign of the cross over the tree
and raised it up. Still today this tree is seen to stand up straight next to the
road. But even though it is dead because it has been stripped of its bark, it
always lives to the honor of this man of God. Many people have faithfully
scraped at its bark, and after they have taken and dissolved the bark in water,
soon they received a medicine. I myself have seen this tree standing erect.
12 Bishop Perpetuus had built this church of St Martin outside Tours probably during the
460s and early 470s. although subsequent bishops (including Gregory) modified and restored

it: see Vieillard-Troiekouroff (1976). 311-24, F'ietri (1983), 372-405, and Van Dam (1985).
230-55. Many of the miracles that Gregory recorded in his VM happened in or near this ctturch.

TRANSLATION

8. The oratory on an estate at Martigny

Near a village in the temtory of Tours there was an oratory situated in the
villa of Martigny. It was commonly reported that Martin had often prayed in
this oratory. Whenever the opportunity arose for abbot Guntharius, while he
was head of his community of monks, to travel on the road that passed not
far from this oratory, he prayed before traveling on. After he became bishop
[of Tours], he passed by on this road and came to the oratory, but he hesitated
to dismount to pray in this place. Immediately his horse turned his head
toward the oratory and stood in the middle of the road. Guntharius kicked
the horse with his feet, whipped it, and spurred it on; but like a bronze [statue]
it was not moved. Then the bishop realized that it was held by divine power.
He dismounted, prayed, remounted his horse, and traveled on. 0 horse, if the
Lord would open your mouth as he once did for a donkey [cf. Numbers
22:28-301, I wish that you would say what was so spectacular that you did
not move. What was so attractive that you stared at the door of the shrine?
What was so frighteningthat you compelled your rider to pray? Without doubt
you would shout in a louder voice that you witnessed the splendor of Martin
and did not dare to move until your master had performed his usual greeting.13
9. The oil from the tomb [of St Martin]
Aredius, a priest from Limoges and a man of the highest goodness and
holiness, was once sitting with me in his cell.14I began to ask whether any
miracles had been displayed in the oratory where he had placed relics of the
blessed bishop [Martin]. Aredius said that he had once visited Tours during
the episcopacy of the blessed Eufroni~s.'~
After staying there a long time, he
took away a vial full of oil from the tomb of the holy bishop [Martin]. He
13 Guntharius was abbot of the monastery of StVenantius [GC 151before serving as bishop
of Tours from 552 until 555. Frankish kings often used him as an envoy; but by the end of his
episcopacy he was an alcoholic [HFX.31].
14 Gregory also wrote a separate account of the miracles and the death of Aredius, an abbot
at Limoges whom Gregory greatly admired and who died in 591 [HFX.29]. With the support of
his mother Pelagia [GC 1021Aredius had founded a monastery at Saint-Yrieix,in the oratory of
which he kept relics of St Martin [HF VIII.151: see Vieillard-Troiekouroff (1976), 277-8.
Aredius often visited Tours [VM 2.39, 3.24.4.61, and served as an informant for Gregory [GM
36, 41, VJ 41-5, VP 17 praef.]. A Vita of Aredius survives, composed probably during the
Carolingian period: ed. B. Krusch, MGH, SRM 3 (1896), 581-609.
15 Eufronius (or Euphronius) served as bishop of Tours from 556 until 573 [HF X.311.
When he became bishop, king Chlothar noted that his was one of the foremost families in Gaul
[HF IV.151. Gregory could feel justifiably proud, since Eufronius was his mother's cousin.
Gregory also visited Tours while Eufronius was bishop [VM 1.321.

10

GLORY OF THE CONFESSORS

returned home. Worn out by the journey he sat down and recounted the
efforts of the trip to his mother; suddenly he was struck so hard by a piercing
pain that he could scarcely draw a breath. But he turned to the oratory in
which relics of the blessed bishop were kept, and after spending the night in
vigils at daybreak he smeared the spot of his pain with the oil that he had
brought. The pain lessened, and he recovered. Later a man presented his
hand that had swelled up after being pierced by a thorn; as soon as it was
smeared with oil, it was restored to health. A woman who had lost her senses
and was thought to possess a demon at certain hours was healed after being
touched by this oil. Another abbot who [lived]next to this shrine touched the
eyes of a blind man with this oil; the blind man immediately recovered his
sight. Since the oil had restored many possessed people to health, he placed
some of it on the head of one man who possessed, I think, a more hideous
demon. Immediately the man expelled the demon in a blast of air from his
bowels. A demon descended upon another man in the nail of his thumb. When
he saw this, the priest [Aredius] poured oil over the finger. Soon the skin broke,
blood flowed, and the demon left. Aredius told these stories about the oil.

10. A cluster [of grapes] from the vine that he planted, and the wax from his
tomb
Aredius added a story about a cluster [of grapes] from the vine that St
Martin had planted. After picking a cluster Aredius put it in a vial that he
filled with water. A bit later a man came to him. The mans mouth was
swollen from an infected pustule, and his face and his puffed-up eyes were
obstructed with excessive poison. Once his mouth had been soaked with
water from the vial with the cluster, the pimple disappeared and the swelling
and the pain completely vanished. Aredius always claimed that the grapes
from the cluster remained fresh in this water still four years later. He added
a story about the wax [of candles] that he brought from the tomb [of St
Martin]. A deaf and dumb woman who, I think, possessed a demon came to
him. He put some of this wax in her ear. When she returned the next day, she
thanked the priest for the health she had recovered.
11. His miracles shown at Tonnerre
A priest who was crippled in his foot lived in the territory of the village of
Tonnerre, which is joined to Langres. As he was traveling along the road that
led to the cathedral of God, he met an old man accompanied by a young boy,
both of whom were clerics. After they greeted each other, the old man said to
the priest: Do you wish to be cured?The priest replied: What more do men

TRANSLATION

11

wish to have than that they might live healthy in body? The old man made
the sign of the cross over the priests knee and said to him: In the name of
our Lord Jesus Christ, stretch out your foot. Immediately the priest stretched out his foot and bent it back cured. After thanking them the priest began
to walk on to where he was going. The young boy who was with the old man
called him and said: Priest, do you know who this man is who has restored
you to health? The priest said: I do not know. The young boy replied: St
Martin, bishop of Tours, has himself restored you to health with his power. Without delay construct an oratory on the spot where you saw the saint standing.
If you do what I say, the oratory will benefit people. The priest immediately
constructed an oratory on the same spot. In it many paralytics recently
deserved to receive mobility, and blind people deserved to receive their sight.16

12.His monastery in Spain

I have learned of something that recently happened in Spain. When king
Leovigild marched against his own son, his army (as often happens) severely
damaged the holy shrines. Between Sagunto and Cartagena there was a
monastery of St Martin. When the monks heard that this army was intending
to approach their locale, they fled,.abandonedtheir old abbot, and went to an
island in the [Mediterranean] sea. The Goths arrived and destroyed the
possessions of the monastery that had been left without any guard; they also
found the abbot, who was bent over from old age but upright in his holiness.
One of the Goths drew his sword to cut off the abbots head, but he fell over
backwards and exhaled his spirit. As soon as the other Goths saw this, they
were terrified with fear and fled. When the news was announced to the king,
he issued a public order that everything that had been stolen was to be
returned to the monastery.
16 The location of this oratory is uncertain: see Vieillard-Troiekouroff(1976). 356. Equally
uncertain is the commonness of young boys serving as minor clerics; note the career of the
priest Cat0 of Clermont, who had perhaps become a lector at age ten [HF IV.61: see Beck
(1950), 52-3, and Rich6 (1976), 282-5.
17 Leovigild ruled as sole king of the Visigoths in Spain from 571 or 573 until 586 [HF
IV.38, VIII.461. His son Hermenegild married a daughter of the Frankish king Sigibert in 579
and converted from Arian to Catholic Christianity [HF V.381. According to Gregory, his
conversion precipitated a civil war; but in 583 his father defeated him at Seville, and in 584 he
took his son captive and sent him into exile, where Hermenegild was killed the next year [HF
V1.43, VIII.281. In fact, it is more likely that this revolt marked a reaction against Leovigilds
attempts to impose a dominant centralized monarchy and that Hermenegildconverted only after
the outbreak of the rebellion: see Collins (1980) and (1983), 45-53. The cult of St Martin was
particularly prominent in Galicia, a region in northwestern Spain occupied by the Sueves,

12

GLORY OF THE CONFESSORS

13. The heretic who wished to restore a mans sight

When the aforementioned king [Leovigild] heard of the miracles that

were worked through the servants of God who belonged to our [Catholic]
faith, he summoned one of his own [Arian] bishops and in secret said to him:
Why do you, in accordance with your faith, not display miracles to the
people just like those who call themselves Christians? The bishop said to
him: Often I have restored sight to the bliid and hearing to the deaf. I am
now able to accomplish these things that you suggest. The bishop summoned one of the heretics and said to him in private: Take these forty gold
pieces, close your eyes, and sit down in a place where I pass by. When I pass
by with the king, cry out loudly that I might restore your lost sight by means
of my faith. The man took the money and did what had been ordered of him.
The new Cyrila walked at the right hand of the king, surrounded by a crowd
of heretics. The man who had been blinded by the money shouted that he
might recover [sight in] his eyes by the faith of the bishop. With great
arrogance the bishop placed his hands over the mans eyes and said: In
accordance with my faith, let this happen for you. As he said this, the mans
eyes were closed up so painfully that not only did he lose his sight but he
also confessed the deceit that he had contrived for the sake of greediness.8
14. The argument of a heretic with a Catholic
Another trustworthy man reported that he had seen a Christian struggling with a heretic on behalf of our faith. After they had argued for a long
time over the divine Scriptures, the heretic could not be persuaded to know
the truth. Then the man of our religion said If the evidence of the sacred
Scriptures does not convince you to believe, then recognize the power of our
indivisible Trinity in miracles. I have a gold ring on my finger; I will toss it
where bishop Martin of Braga had promoted it in the mid-sixth century before his death in 580
[HF V.37, VM 1.11,4.7]. Leovigilds generosity to this monastery of St Martin may have been
part of his policy of trying to win support from Catholic Christians during the civil war; in 585
he incorporated Galicia into his kingdom [HFVIII.35]:see Thompson (1%9), 64-91.
18 Cyrila was the leadingArian bishop in the kingdom of the Vandals in North Africa during
the early 480s: see Mandouze (1982).260-2. His attempt to perform a miracle by restoring sight
to a man who feigned blindness was equally unsuccessful: Gregorys account of Cyrila was
similar to the story in this chapter, although longer and more &tailed [HF II.31. Gregory thought
that king Leovigild may have converted to Catholic Christianity before his death [HFVIII.46].
In fact, Reccared, his son and successor, converted in 587 after first, according to Gregory,
reminding the Arian bishops of this particular example of their failure to work miracles [HF
IX.151. The Council of Toledo in 589 ratified and p u b l i c i d the imposition of Catholic
Christianity in Visigothic Spain: see Thompson (1969). 94-109, and Collins (1983). 53-8.

TRANSLATION

13

into a fire, and you pick it up when it is glowing hot. He tossed the ring
among the coals and allowed it to become so red-hot that it seemed to
resemble the coals. He turned to the heretic and said: If your exposition is
true, take the ring from the fire. When the heretic was reluctant, the man
said: God, immeasurable Trinity, reveal whether I believe something that is
unworthy of you. For indeed, if my faith is correct, let these fierce flames not
have power over me. And after he took the ring from the fire he held it for a
long time in his hand but was not harmed. More importantly,the heretic was
upset, and this man strengthened the other Catholics with the intensity of his
own faith. Enough on this matter.

15. Abbot Venantius

Abbot Venantius is buried not far from the church of the blessed Martin
[at Tours]. Venantius was a man of outstanding holiness who, while alive,
offered assistance to many ill people. At the end of his time he migrated from
this world, but he continually demonstrates through his miracles that he lives
in eternity. For if someone who has developed chilling fevers prays and
keeps vigils for one night at his tomb, soon the attack of fever subsides and
he receives a cure. Among the other [miracles] that I either witnessed or
heard of that happened there, I saw a woman who had been healed after
being afflicted by a quartan fever. For a long time she had been hampered by
this affliction and was unable to eat or sleep; she had so deteriorated in her
whole body that she scarcely possessed the breath of life. She spent the night
at the tomb of Venantius crying and praying and remained motionless until
daybreak. At dawn she fell asleep. When awakened, she felt no pain and left
with her health. I have written a Era of this saint.
16. St Papula
Papula was a committed ascetic who often demanded of her parents that
she be admitted to a convent of nuns, because she was not able to serve God
in the house of her parents [where she was] distracted by the concerns of this
world. Her parents loved her and did not want her to be separated from them.
So she cut the hair on her head, put on the clothes of a man, journeyed to the
diocese of Tours, and enrolled herself in a community of monks. There she
led a life of fasting and praying and was noted for her many miracles. For
19 Gregorys longer account of Venantius was VP 16. Venantius had broken off his
engagement to join a monastery at Tours, where he eventually served as abbot until his death in
the later fifth century.

14

GLORY OF THE CONFESSORS

Papula was like a man among men, and no one knew of her gender. Her
parents looked for her but could never find her. Meanwhile the abbot of the
monastery that she had joined died. Because of her constant miracles the
monks selected her [as abbot], although they did not know of her gender.
With all her strength Papula rejected the office. Although she lived in the
monastery for thirty years, no one knew what she was. But three days before
she migrated from this world, she revealed her secret to the monks. When
she died, she was washed by other women and buried. Through her many
miracles she reveals that she is a servant of God. For often people suffering
from chills and other illnesses are restored to their health at her tomb.

17. The lid of a certain tomb

In another district of Tours a tomb was situated among thom-bushes and
brambles. It was said that a bishop was buried in this tomb, but they did not
know his name. It happened that the son of a poor man died. After the boy
was buried, the poor man did not find a cover for his sarcophagus; so he went
to this spot and took the lid from this tomb. The lid was so huge that three
yoke of oxen dragged it. By stealing from the tomb of another man the poor
man covered the body of his son. But once he had done this, he became deaf,
mute, blind, and crippled. For almost an entire year he suffered from this distress. Then a bishop appeared to him in a dream and said: What evil, o man,
have I inflicted upon you and your family because you have uncovered me by
removing the lid of my tomb? Go now if you wish to be made healthy, and
order that this lid be quickly restored. If you do not do this, you will die immediately. For I am bishop Benignus, who came as a foreigner to this city. The
man nodded to his servants and went to his sons grave. He lifted the stone
lid and put it on a wagon. Once he brought it and restored it to the tomb [of
the bishop], he was immediately healed. On its retum the stone lid was so
light that two oxen could haul back what three yoke of oxen had removed.l

18. The tombs of two virgins

Within the territory of Tours there was a small hill that was covered with
briers and brambles and wild vines. The hill was so densely entwined in
20 Papula (or Papola) is otherwise unknown. The literary motif, although not necessarily
the occurrence, of holy women entering monasteries as transvestites was common in both
western and eastern medieval literature: see Anson (1974), Patlagean (1976). and the
sophisticatedand powerful analysis of Bynum (1987), 277-96.
21 This bishop Benignus is otherwise unknown; his tomb was at Saint-Branchs: see
Vieillard-Troiekouroff (1976), 248-9.

TRANSLATION

15

vines that scarcely anyone could climb it. Rumor reported that two virgins
who had been dedicated to God were buried in this place. During the vigils
before festival days believers often saw a light burning there by the power of
God. One brave man trusted in the impulse of his heart and did not fear to
approach the place during a dark night. He saw a candle shining with the vast
light of a marvelous brightness. After watching it for a long time, he left and
told others what he had seen. Then the virgins revealed themselves to one of
the local inhabitants in a dream. They explained that they had been buried
there and that without a shelter they could not endure any longer the damage
from storms. But if this man wished to be of use to them, then he should cut
down the thorn-bushes and build a roof over their tombs. When the man
awoke, his other concerns overwhelmed him and he forgot what he had seen.
On another night the virgins appeared to him again and horribly threatened
him with a menacing scowl that he would migrate from this world during the
current year if he did not cover the place. The man was terrified by this
dream. He took his axe, chopped down the thicket, and exposed the tombs.
He found large drops of candle wax that were fragrant with the scent of nectar,
similar to frankincense. He hitched oxen to a wagon, collected stones, and
built an oratory during the summer.
When it was completed, he invited the blessed Eufronius, who was then
bishop in the cathedral of Tours, to bless it. But Eufronius was wearied by
old age and excused himself from going; he said: My son, you see that I am
an old man and that a winter that is more harsh than usual bothers me. Rains
are falling, the winds are blowing everything in a whirl, rivers are high, and
the roads are soaked from the frequent rains and almost turned into mud. It
is not now appropriate for my old age to undertake these journeys. The man
listened to these excuses and left the sight of the bishop, feeling very sad as
he departed. But when the bishop relaxed his limbs for a rest, he saw the two
virgins standing by him. The older of the two had a sad look and began to
speak: Why do we not deserve your favor, most blessed bishop? What
misfortune have we brought upon the region entrusted to you by God? Why
do you disdain us? Why do you hesitate to come to consecrate the place that
this faithful man has constructed for us? Come now, we beg in the name of
the omnipotent God whose servants we are. After she said this, her cheeks
became damp with the tears that appeared. The old man awoke, called the
superintendent of the church house, and said: I have sinned by not going
with that man. Behold, I saw the two virgins who rebuked me for this reason;
I am afraid of committing an offense against God if I delay going there. As
Eufronius traveled along the road, he hurried on his way. During his journey

16

GLORY OF THE CONFESSORS

the rainstorm stopped and the harsh violence of the winds died down. After
successfully completing his trip Eufronius blessed the place and then
returned in peace. For he often recalled the appearance and the features of
the virgins. He said that one was taller while the other was smaller in size but
not in merit, and that both were whiter than snow. He announced that one
was Maura and the other Brim and said that he had learned these names
from their own mouths.22

19. What St Eufronius predicted about king Charibert

Although many people often urged Bishop Eufronius that he ought to
meet with king Charibert, he contrived delays and hesitated to go. Finally he
was convinced by his servants and said Go, prepare for a journey, so that we
might meet with the king whom we will not see. Then supplies were loaded
on wagons and horses were readied for the journey. When the moment for
him to set out on the road was at hand, he said: The wagons are to be turned
around, and the horses are to be unsaddled.We are not making this trip now.
His servants asked what the joke was, so that he so easily undid what he had
already ordered to be prepared with great urgency. In private Eufronius said:
The ruler to whom you force me to journey has died; if we were to go, we
would not find him alive. The men who heard this remark were amazed;
they noted the day and quietly remembered the words of the saint. Men came
from Paris and announced that the king had died at the very hour when the
bishop ordered the wagons to be recalled from the j0urney.2~
20. The dedication of my oratory
With regard to my oratory, in which are located relics of the martyr St
Saturninus, bishop Martin, the confessor Illidius, and other saints, it will not
be out of place to narrate some stones for the instruction of believers. [I will
tell] how the power of the blessed Martin displayed itself in a revelation, so
that many saw that fearsome ball of fire that once was visible to a few as it
rose from Martin while he was celebrating mass and burst from the top of his
head. Under the guidance of the inspiration of divine piety my heart decided
that I should faithfully dedicate for the task of praying the very beautiful
room that St Eufronius had used as a storeroom. The room was carefully
22 St Maura and St Britta a~ otherwise unknown; this oratory over their tombs was located
at Sainte-Maure: see Vieillard-Troiekouroff (1976). 279-80. Eufronius was bishop of Tours
from 556 until 573 [see note to GC 91.
23 King Charibert died in 567 [HF IV.451; a wise woman had also predicted the hour, day,
and year of his death [HFV. 141.

TRANSLATION

17

arranged and the altar placed in the usual spot. One night I kept vigils in the
holy church [of St Martin]; at dawn I went to the oratory and sanctified the
altar I had set up. I returned to the church and with the accompaniment of
crosses and burning candles formally transferred the holy relics of Martin
along with those of the martyrs Saturninus and Julian and of the blessed
Illidius. A large group of clerics and deacons dressed in white was present,
as well as the illustrious order of distinguished citizens and a large crowd of
people of the next rank. After I lifted and carried the holy relics that were
[placed] in wooden coffers and adorned in shrouds, I came to the door of the
oratory. As I entered, suddenly a frightening flash filled the room, so that the
eyes of the bystanders were closed out of fear and because of the great
brightness. The flash, so to speak, flared about through the entire oratory and
made me very afraid. No one could know what this was, although everyone
was prostrate with fear and lay on the ground. I said: Do not be afraid. For
it is the power of the saints that you see. In particular remember the book
about the life of the blessed Martin and recall how a ball of fire rose from his
head as he recited the sacred words [of the liturgy] and how it was seen to
ascend all the way to heaven. Therefore, do not be afraid, but believe that he
and the other saints have visited us. Then we set aside our fear and praised
God by saying: Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord; the Lord
is God and he has given us light [Psalm 118:26-271.
That earlier miracle was seen by only a few people, but this one appeared
to all the people. In that earlier miracle there was evidence of power, but in
this one there was a reinforcement of grace. That earlier miracle was kept
secret to avoid ostentation, but this one was made manifest to everyone for
glorification. Then the celebration of the festival was being faithfully proclaimed to the Lord; in this case the new oratory that would contribute to the
praise of the Lord was being consecrated by the display of holy relics.
Therefore we must faithfully ask and pray, as is proper, that he [Martin] who
often raised on high the vows of his prayer through this sacred fire now look
upon this congregation. For both when I wrote about the monk who was
praying and when I revealed that abbot Brachio had seen the fire rise from
the relics of saints, I think that this fire is a mystical one, because it
enlightens but does not bum. But it can neither emerge nor ever appear to
anyone without the grace of the divine majesty.24
24 Gregory dedicated this new oratory within a year after he became bishop at Tours [VP
2.31. Three of these saints whose relics he transferred had special significance for him
personally. St Martin was the patron saint of his new see of Tours; Gregory had previously

18

GLORY OF THE CONFESSORS

21. The tomb of St Sollemnis

I have already written some [stories] about Tours. But since I recently
visited the tomb of St Sollemnis, I cannot be silent about what [happened] at
the monastery at Luynes, which is built on the summit of a hill and is surrounded by old buildings that are already in ruins. For some say that, while
the crypt was still hidden and before its location had been revealed to any of
the Christians, the inhabitants noticed a light burning in that place every
[Saturday] night preceding the Lords festivals [on Sundays]. But no one
knew what this mystery signified; men always suspected that something
divine was preserved there. Then two possessed men came from the church
of St Martin. These men clapped their hands and began to cry out; they said:
The most blessed Sollemnis is buried here in a hidden crypt. Uncover the
tomb of the friend of God. When you have found the tomb, drape it with
cloths, light a lamp, and celebrate the ceremony owed [to him]. If you do
what we say, the tomb will benefit this region. As they said this, they cried
loudly and attempted to dig up the ground with their fingernails. The
inhabitants watched what was happening.After acquiring a hoe they dug and
exposed a crypt into which they descended by a series of steps and found a
huge tomb. The men who were still ill in their minds testified that this was
the tomb of the most blessed Sollemnis; but these men departed after soon
regaining their senses. Thereafter, however, people suffering from various
illnesses began to gather at this tomb; after receiving a cure they departed in
good health. Among them was Litomeris, a native of Tours who suffered
from an attack of quartan fever. After taking candles from his lodging he
went with only one servant and approached the spot. He prayed, held the
burning candles in his hand for the entire night, and celebrated vigils. At
daybreak he returned to his own home; he never again endured the agony of
a chill or any shivering from this illness.25
considered himself a foster son of St Julian, the patron saint of Brioude [VJ2,50]; and he had
once been cured at the shrine of St Illidius, who had been bishop of Clermont and a
contemporary of Martin [VP2.21. St Saturninus had been an early martyr at Toulouse [GM47].
When Gregory explained this sudden flash, he referred to a story in Sulpicius Severus, Dialogi
11.2.1-2, ed. C. Halm, CSEL 1 (1866). 181-2, and trans. A. Roberts, NPNF 2nd series, 1 1
(reprinted 1973), 38. Gregory also included other stories about this mystical fre [GC 37-81.
25 This St Sollemnis is unidentified and should not be confused with Sollemnis, bishop of
Chartres at the beginning of the sixth century: see Duchesne (1894-1915). II:425, WeillardTroiekouroff (1976). 137-8, and Heinzelmann (1982). 696. A vita of Sollemnis of Chartres,
composed in the eighth or early ninth century, survives: ed. W. Levison, MGH, SRM 7 (1920),
31 1-21. In the mid-ninth century someone did confuse the two by combining GC 21 with this
vita: see Levison, op.cit. 310.

TRANSLATION

19

22. Abbot Maximus

Maximus was a monk, a great man because of his name and his
miracles. The book of his life, which I read [in a version] written in verse,
claims that he was a student of our Martin [of Tours].26Because Maximus
wished to hide himself, he decided to live in Lyon in a monastery on the IleBarbe. But after he became conspicuous there, he decided to return to his
homeland. Then while he was intending to cross the Sa6ne river, his boat
was swamped and sank, and the priest was covered by the water. Around his
neck he had a book of the Gospels and [the utensils for the celebration of]
the daily liturgy, that is, a small paten and a chalice. But divine mercy did not
allow what was its own to perish. At the command of the Lord Maximus was
saved from this danger [and brought] to the bank, sothat the Lord neither
allowed the loss of a life nor mourned for the destruction of the liturgical
utensils. That which the psalmist sang at the inspiration of the Holy Spirit
was fulfilled: Although the just man will fall, he is not bruised, because the
Lord steadies his hand [Psalm 37:24]. And again: The Lord will not ignore
the soul of a just man [cf. Proverbs 10:3].
Then Maximus came to Chinon, a village in the territory of Tours, and
founded a monastery. When Egidius besieged this village and the people of
this region were shut up there, the hostile enemy blocked up a well that had
been cut from the side of a mountain and that the besieged people used for
drinking water. The aforementioned servant of God, who with the others was
shut up within the fortifications of the village, learned of this. When he saw
the people dying from devastating thirst, he prayed to the Lord for an entire
night that the Lord look upon his people, scatter the wicked enemy, and not
allow the people to die from a burning thirst. Then, at the revelation of the
Holy Spirit, he said to the people: Let whoever has a container place [it]
outside in the street and let him pray to the Lord. For today he will give you
his waters bestowed in abundance, so that you and your small children will
26 Although Gregory described several men as students of Martin ofTours [HFVII.IO,GC
45, 561, no contemporary evidence from the later fourth century supports his claims: see
Stancliffe (1983), 31, 166-7, 288-9, for the attested contemporary students of Martin. Verse
versions of saints Vitae were apparently not uncommon [cf. GC 1081. Gregorys friend
Fortunatus had himself versified the Vita of St Martin originally composed by Sulpicius
Severus, and he exchanged some correspondence with Gregory over the possibility of
versifying some of Gregorys collection of miracle stories about St Martin [VM 1 praef.]: see
Fortunatus, Vita S.Martini, prol. = Epistula ad Gregoriurn 2, ed F. Leo, MGH, AA 4.1 (1881).
293-4, with Van Dam (1988a). In fact, Gregory had even hinted that some poet might like to
versify this book about the confessors [GC praef.].

20

GLORY OF THE CONFESSORS

not be lacking.As Maximus said this, suddenly clouds covered the sky and
a heavy rain accompanied by thunder and lightning fell from the sky upon
the village. The storm was doubly beneficial to the people, since it eliminated thirst with its rain and scattered the enemy with its crashing. Everyones
containers were filled, and everyone was satisfied. After the enemy fled
because of the plea of the priest, the people were saved and left the village.
Maximus died in the fulness of his days in the monastery [he had
founded] in this place, and was buried there.n Often ill people are cured at
his tomb. One young boy who was a member of the household of the
cathedral at Tours fell ill. Since he was gasping as he lay down and was
thought to have breathed out his spirit near the end of his life, he was brought
to the church of Maximus. Immediately his fever vanished and the boy was
restored to health. One of the slave girls suffered from a similar fever; when
she was placed before the railings of this shrine, she was restored to health
on the same day. Once information about these cures reached me, I had the
boy tonsured and admitted to the monastery, and I ordered that the girl adopt
a habit and be admitted to a community of nuns to serve God.28

23.The recluse Johannis

The priest Johannis is buried not far from this church [of St Maximus].
Johannis was a Breton by nationality. Since he lived a life of the highest
piety, the Lord deigned to work many miracles of healing through his hands.
Because of his love for God Johannis hid himself from the sight of men. He
had a tiny cell in an oratory in front of the church in the village of Chinon.
There in a little garden that he worked with his own hands he had planted
some laurel trees that now spread out on hugewooden trunks with the
pleasantness of their delightful leaves. The holy man sat in the shade of these
trees and either read or wrote something. After his death the trees spread out
their wide branches, as I said, and shaded the area of the small garden. One
27 It is not certain whether this Maximus of Chinon should be identified with another Maximus who was abbot at Iie-Barbe in the mid-fifth century: see Krusch (1885). 761 n.3. Egidius
(or better, Aegidius) was a renegade Roman military commander who took advantage of the
confusion caused by the arrival of the barbarian tribes to establish his own kingdom at
Soissons with the support of some Franks [HF II.121. Rouche (1979). 36, suggests that he
attacked Chinon because the village was supporting the Visigoths. After Aegidius death in 464,
his son Syagrius ruled as king of the Romans until he was defeated by Clovis in c.486fl [ H F
II.271.
28 Weidemann (1982), I:342, II:291, suggests that the cathedral of Tours owned property
and slaves near Chinon.

TRANSLATION

21

of these trees weakened with age and dried up. Then the custodian of the
garden dug out the trunk and roots, cut them up with the branches, and built
a bench on which he sometimes sat when he was weary or on which he
chopped something with his axe when the occasion demanded. When he had
used the bench this way for two years or a bit longer, he felt a pain in his
heart due, I think, to divine inspiration. He said: Woe am I, because I have
sinned, so that on various occasions I use for cutting this tree that such a
priest planted with his own hand. After saying this, he took a hoe, dug up the
ground, cut off the legs of the bench, put it beneath the ground, and filled the
hole with dirt. [What happened next] is extraordinary to report! When spring
came, this tree trunk that, as I said, had been buried by the mans hand was
green with revived health and put out new buds just like the other flowering
trees. Today there are shoots coming from this trunk of five, six, or more feet
in height. Every year these shoots are supported by the Lord and grow
higher.29
24. The nun Monegundis

The blessed Monegundis died at Tours. She was from the territory of
Chartres. She had left her homeland as well as her parents and come to Tours
for this reason alone, to devote herself to prayer. God repeatedly deigned to
reveal miracles through her. For whenever someone developed a festering
blister, the person went to Monegundis and requested her prayers;
immediately Monegundis knelt to pray to the Lord. She also gathered the
leaves of a certain vegetable or fruit, smeared them with her saliva, made the
sign of the cross over the sore, and applied the [paste of] leaves. Immediately
all the poison vanished so completely that the ill person no longer endured
anything deserving of death. Often she healed people suffering from quartan
fevers or from sore throats by giving them water she had blessed. Now ill
people constantly gather at her tomb and are healed. For it is not possible to
list individually how many who suffered from chills, how many who
[suffered] from festering blisters and were almost dead as the poison raged,
and how many who were ill from dysentery were healed. But although I have
recorded many of these people in the book that I wrote about the life of
Monegundis, I am unable to be silent about what happened next. A maid
servant of Probatus, my archdeacon, was severely struck by a quartan fever
and was already ill for nearly a year with this fever. After the hands of her
29 Johannis the recluse lived in the middle of the sixth century: see Vieillard-Troiekouroff
(1976), 84.

22

GLORY OF THE CONFESSORS

parents placed her beside the holy tomb [of Monegundis], she was brought
back home with her health.30
25. Abbot Senoch
Recently I wrote a Kfu of abbot S e n ~ c h . In
~ ' that book I ended after
recording many of his miracles; but since [divine] power was evident at his
tomb, it was absurd for me to be silent. A boy named Nantulf was afflicted
by severe blindness. He continually wept for his youth, still in the first
period of life, that had been disfigured by this affliction. He sought out the
tomb of this saint; kneeling, relying upon a humble prayer, he asked that the
patronage of Senoch recall his lost sight for him. After continuing with this
prayer for four days, Nantulf's eyes were opened and he left with his sight.
Even now many people afflicted by the misfortune of chills and other
illnesses are quickly healed when they either pull off or touch the fringes of
the shroud [over his tomb]. So much concerning Tours.
26. St Symeon and his pillar

The confessor Symeon, who is said to have stood on a pillar in the region
of Antioch, often offered cures to the inhabitants. After his conversion, as is
read in the book of his life, he never looked at any woman with open eyes.
But in his zeal for holiness after he placed himself on a higher pillar, he did
not allow himself to be seen not only by an unrelated woman but even by his
own mother. Even now he protects this place from the approach of women.
For some say that a woman clothed herself in the garments of a man and
wished to enter the church [dedicated]to his pillar. The poor woman thought
to herself that in [the disguise of] her clothing she was able to do something
that could be unknown to the Most High; she disregarded that [saying] of the
apostle, that 'God is not mocked' [Galatians 6:7]. When she came to the
church and lifted her foot to cross the sacred threshold, immediately she fell
backwards, toppled over, and died. This was sufficient [warning] for the
30 Gregory elaborated on the life of Monegundis in VP 19. Monegundis had eventually
became a nun at Tours, where she was remarkably successful at healing people. She died
sometime after bishop Medard of Soissons [VP 19.21, who had died before 561 [GC 931: see
James (1985). 156-7. The story about the cure of Probatus' servant might be a later addition to
this chapter, since Probatus could have become archdeacon only after 591, when his
predecessor Plat0 became bishop of Poitiers [HF V.49, VM 4.321.
31 Gregory's vita of Senoch was VP 15. Senoch had founded a monastery by rebuilding
some ancient ruins at Saint-Senoch, near Tours [VP 15.11: see Vieillard-Troiekouroff(1976).
275. Bishop Eufronius ordained him as a deacon, and Gregory also visited him. When Senoch
died in 576 [HFV.7], Gregory was at his deathbed [VP 15.41.

TRANSLATION

23

people lest any other women attempt the same, since they saw that a homble
vengeance was imposed on that
27. The tombs of the priests in the church of St Martialis
Then St Martialis, who had been sent by the Roman bishops as a bishop,
began to preach at Limoges. After overturning the rituals of [pagan] images
and after filling the city with belief in God, he migrated from this world. At
that time two priests were with him whom he had brought with him from the
East to Gaul. But when they had completed their days so that they were
called from this world, they were buried in adjacent sarcophagi in the same
crypt as their holy bishop. One sarcophagus was near the wall, the other was
next to the first one. Since both stood above ground, it was not possible for
the sarcophagus [in back] to be honored because of the sarcophagus that was
in front [of it]; that is, no shroud could be unfolded there, and no lamp could
be lit. The inhabitants of the region were annoyed at this. One morning when
they came to the crypt, they found the tombs located on different walls. Free
access to both tombs was thus now possible, and it was obvious [from this
deed] how the blessed bishop was respected as a suppliant of God.33
28. The miracles performed at his tomb
A girl whose one hand had stiffened (I do not know what her sin was)
and whose fingers were fixed in her palm came to the tomb of Martialis. She
tiusted in the power of the confessor, that the intercession of the man whose
preaching had freed people who were ensnared by the false rituals of
superstition could also loosen her withered hand. Then, during the celebration of the vigils on the night of his festival, while she was attentively praying before his tomb, she was surprised and marveled at how her hand was
healed and the fingers straightened. The people witnessed [this miracle].
32 Symeon the Stylite had earned his reputation as a holy man during the first half of the
fifth century by living for decades on top of a pillar in Syria. Although Gregory referred to a
vita of Symeon, he may in fact have heard these stories from the eastern bishop who visited
Tours in 591 and who mentioned Symeon [HFX.24]. Stylite saints were apparently fashionable
in Gaul: see Elbern (1966). Gregory himself once visited a man who had tried to live on a pillar
near Trier. The harsh winter made his life difficult enough, but bishops also resented his
influence; finally the local bishop demolished the pillar and forced the man to live in a
monastery [HF VIII. 151.
33 Martialis was also one of the seven missionaries thought to have been sent to Gaul in the
middle of the third century [HF 1.30; cf. GC 41. The church containing his tomb was outside
Limoges and is to be distinguished from the cathedral in the city that Gregory mentioned in the
next chapter: see Vieillard-Troiekouroff (1976). 13 1-4.

24

GLORY OF THE CONFESSORS

A man deserved [to regain] his speech in this manner. This man, as the
coarse rusticity of people behaves, swore a false oath in the cathedral. Soon
his tongue stiffened and he became mute, so that he seemed to imitate not
the sound of a human voice but the lowing of an animal. But he went to the
tomb of this confessor and knelt in prayer. As he later claimed, he felt as if
someone had touched his throat; this, as I believe, was the power of the
confessor of the Lord. The man stood up and with a nod requested a priest
who was present to make the sign of the cross over his clenched jaws. After
the priest did this, again the man knelt in prayer. Immediately upon standing
he regained the use of his voice and in his own words revealed everything
that he had suffered.
29. St,Stremonius, bishop of Clermont
Clermont first received the message of salvation from St Stremonius,
who also had been sent by the Roman bishops with the most blessed Catianus
and the others whom I have mentioned. Because of his preaching Clermont
began to believe that Christ, the Son of God, was the salvation of the world
and the redeemer of all. Stremonius tomb is in the village of Issoire. Coarse
rusticity, even though it knew where he was buried, never offered any cult of
respect there at his tomb. But after the long circuits of [many] years Cautinus, who was given as a [future] bishop of Clermont, governed the church
of this village while he was a deacon. One night while he was lying in the
bed of his cell that was attached to the church, he heard the chanting of
psalms, as if from voices singing quietly. Upon getting up he saw the church
shining with a bright light. He was astounded and looked inside (his cell was
on an upper floor across from the windows of the church). He looked, and
behold, there was a crowd of people dressed in white, holding candles, and
chanting psalms around the tomb of Stremonius. He watched this spectacle
for a long time. Once they departed, immediately at dawn Cautinus ordered
that the tomb be surrounded with a railing and covered with white shrouds.
He announced that respect would be shown to that place. Thereafter prayers
were offered over the tomb and the assistance of the bishop was requested. I
heard this story from the mouth of bishop C a ~ t i n u s . ~ ~
34 Stremonius was another of the seven missionaries thought to have been sent to Gaul in
the middle of the third century [HF 1.30; cf. GC 41. In the seventh century his name was
corrupted into Austremonius; for the later hagiography about him, see Foumier (1979).
Cautinus served as bishop of Clermont from 551, when he had succeeded Gregorys uncle
Gallus, until 571; so Gregory perhaps heard this story while he was growing up in Clermont.
Since most bishops and clerics had supported a priest named Cat0 to succeed Gallus, Cautinus

TRANSLATION

25

30. The man who received blessed bread from a priest

There is great favor if the priesthood is properly respected in behavior.
For if the priesthood was so beneficial to an unjust man and a persecutor of
righteousness that he acquired [the gift ofJ prophecy, that is, to Caiaphas,
who prophesied that it was necessary for one man to die for the people so
that the entire nation not die [cf. John 11:50], how much more can divine
majesty attribute to those who fear God and who solemnly and scrupulously
respect the priesthood? As a result, according to James the appearance of a
priest combined with a prayer is beneficial to ill people [cf. James 5:15].
Often simply the offering of bread crumbs that have been blessed35from the
hand of a priest confers assistance; this fits with what I in truth learned to
have happened at Clermont during my youth. A priest who was traveling by
himself requested lodging at the house of a poor man in the Limagne. After
receiving it, during the night he got up from his bed in accordance ,with the
practice of priests and stood for prayer. The poor man too, whom circumstances forced to cart wood from the forest, got up very early. As is the
custom of woodsmen, although it was not yet dawn he requested food from
his wife, which she immediately brought. After taking this bread the man did
not eat it until it had been blessed by the priest or until he had received from
him bread crumbs that had been blessed. After receiving bread crumbs that
had been blessed, he took them and left. It was still dark when he came to a
river. He drove his oxen and wagon onto a bridge that floated on top of boats
and began to cross over to the opposite bank. When he came to the middle of
the river, he heard a voice that said: Drown [him], drown [him], do not
hesitate. Another voice responded to the first and said: I would do what you
suggest even without your encouragement, if a holy object did not foil my
attempts. For you are aware that this man is fortified with the bread crumbs
of the priest; I am unable therefore to harm him.The man heard these voices
but saw no one else. He knew that these words were threats to himself. He
selection by king Theudebald split the clergy at Clermont into factions [ H F IV.5-71; Cautinus
may well have then publicized this story about his discovery of the tomb of St Stremonius to
promote his own episcopal authority. But Gregory was critical of bishop Cautinus and accused
him of drunkenness, greed, and cowardliness in the face of the plague [ H F IV.12-13, 311.
Gregorys criticisms may also reflect rivalries between aristocratic families at Clermont: see
Wood (1983). 44. Yet as bishop Cautinus participated in the annual pilgrimage to the shrine of
St Julian at Brioude, who was a saint specially associated with Gregorys family [HFIV.5, 131.
35 Eulogiae were bits of bread that had been blessed during the celebration of mass but then
not used. They were subsequently distributed to believers, often by clerics, as tokens of
friendship and hospitality: see Dalton (1927), 11527-8, and Weidemann (1982). II:224.

26

GLORY OF THE CONFESSORS

signed himself with the cross of the Lord and thanked God that the hostile
faction could not prevail against him. Then he proceeded to the opposite
bank. With the load he had anticipated he returned home in safety.

31. The two lovers

Ancient tradition relates that at Clermont there were two people, a man
and a woman, who were joined in marriage but not in sexual intercourse.
Although they slept in a single bed, they were not polluted by the other in
carnal desire. Their life of chastity was a secret between themselves. Many
years later, by common agreement the man was tonsured to become a cleric,
and the woman put on the habit of a nun. After fulfilling her days the woman
happened to migrate from this world. Then her husband prepared a tomb and
displayed the body for burial. After he buried her in the tomb, he lifted his
hands to heaven and revealed the secret that had been kept between them. He
said: I thank you, maker of all things, becausejust as you deigned to entrust
her to me, so I have returned her to you, kept pure from all contamination of
lust. The woman smiled and said: Be still, be still, man of God, because it
is not necessary that you confess our secret. No one asked. Then he closed
the lid and left. A short time later the man migrated from this world and was
buried [in a tomb] in his own spot. For although they were in the same
church, each tomb was next to a different wall; one was on the south side, the
other on the north side. But at dawn the tombs were discovered to be next to
each other, which is how they remain still today. The inhabitants therefore
now call them the l h o Lovers and venerate them with great honor.36

32.The priest Amabilis

In the [territoryof the] aforementionedcity of Clermont Amabilis, a man
noted for his holiness, was a priest in the village of Riom. He was distinguished for his great miracles and was said often to have controlled serpents.
For when duke Victurius refused to pray at his tomb, his horse stood rigid
opposite [the tomb] and the duke could not ride on. Although the duke beat
his horse with whips and spurs, the horse stood immobile, as if it were
[made] of bronze. Finally the duke, who had become, so to speak, similar to
that horse, was advised by his servants and dismounted for prayer. Once he
36 When Gregory retold this story about the h o Lovers elsewhere, he included some
additional details [HFI.47]. The husband was named Iniuriosus and had senatorial status, and
he and his wife had lived while Nepotianus was bishop at Clermont [HF 1.46, GC 361. Their
tomb was probably in the church dedicated to St Illidius [VP 21: see Vieillard-Troiekouroff
(1976), 90-3.

TRANSLATION

27

had prayed in faith, he went where he wished. 1 saw a possessed man who
was cleansed at Amabilis tomb. [I also saw] a pejurer who had stiffened up
like iron; once he confessed his misdeed, he was immediately released.37

33. The nun Georgia

It is said that in the same city [of Clermont] there was a girl, a nun
dedicated to God, who lived in the countryside where she was withdrawn
from the people of the city and who willingly offered the sacrifices of praise
that were suitable for God. Every day she persisted in fasts and prayers.
Then it happened that she migrated from this world and was brought to the
church of the city for burial. But when they lifted the bier and began to carry
her body on the road, a huge flock of doves came and began to fly over her.
Soaring overhead the doves followed where she was being carried by her
neighbors. Once she was brought to the church, the entire flock was seen to
rest on the roof of the building. After she was buried, the doves flew off to
heaven. It can be concluded that this girl was properly named Georgia: she
busied her mind with a spiritual cultivation in such a way that she harvested
the produce of her virginity, the sixty-fold fruit [cf. Matthew 13231. She
departed from this world and was honored with a funeral in heaven.38

34.The broken tomb in the church of St Venerandus

In the church of St Venerandus, which is next to [the church] of St Illidius,

there was on the west end a vaulted chamber. In this chamber were many
tombs sculpted from Parian marble, in which some holy men and ascetic
women were buried. There is therefore no doubt that they were Christians,
because the historical scenes [sculpted] on their tombs are revealed [to be]
about the miracles of the Lord and his apostles. During the time when
Georgius, a citizen of Velay, was count at Clermont, a section of the vaulting
that was soaked with rain because of long neglect from lack of repair fell on
37 Amabilis is otherwise unknown; his tomb was probably in a church at Clermont, not at
Riom: see Vieillard-Troiekouroff (1976), 93-4.Victurius (or better, Victorius) had been duke in
the province of First Aquitania during the 470s, having been appointed by king Euric of the
Visigoths. He was a friend and patron of bishop Sidonius of Clermont: see Stroheker (1948),
86-7, and PLRE II:1162-4. Although Gregory admired Sidonius, he did not think highly of
Victorius, whom he criticized for his scurrilous behavior [HF II.201. In c.479 Victorius fled
with Apollinaris, Sidonius son, and was killed at Rome [GM 441.
38 Georgia is otherwise unknown; her body was buried in the church dedicated to St Cassius
[HF 1.33, IV.121: see Vieillard-Troiekouroff (1976), 95-6. Georgia is a Greek noun or name
meaning agriculture,farming, or cultivated land.

28

GLORY OF THE CONFESSORS

one of the ~ a r c o p h a g iThe

. ~ ~lid of the sarcophagus was struck and shattered
into pieces. A girl was visible, lying in the sarcophagus; all her limbs were as
intact as if she had been recently taken from this world. Her face, her hands,
and her remaining limbs were without blemish; her hair was very long; I
believe that she had been buried in spices. The robe that covered her lifeless
limbs was as [white as] a lamb and intact, neither mutilated by any decay nor
discolored by any blackness. Why say more? She appeared to be so robust
that she was thought to be sleeping rather than dead. Because of the shiny
whiteness of her silk robe some of us thought that she had died while
wearing the white robes [immediately after her baptism]. Some said that
rings and gold necklaces were found on her and secretly removed, so that the
bishop did not know. But no one of our present generation knew, either from
gossip or from a written document, the girls merit, origin, or name. This
body lay exposed for one year, and there was no one who out of respect for
mankind brought a covering for this tomb. Then it happened that the wife of
the aforementioned count Georgius became seriously ill after the death of
her husband. After being gripped by this illness for a long time, she lost the
sight of her eyes. Once she was freed from her fever, she summoned doctors,
presented various requests, and offered rewards. But in no way could she
receive a cure from them until finally the compassion of the Lord was
motivated to look upon her. A person appeared to her in a vision during the
night and said: If you wish to be restored to your original sight, go as
quickly as possible, find a clean stone, and quickly cover the sarcophagus of
the girl who is at rest. This sarcophagus stands uncovered in the church of St
Venerandus. After the sight of your eyes has been uncovered, soon you will
see everything clearly. When the woman had fulfilled this command by
covering the tomb with a lid, immediately her eyes were opened and she
received her sight anew. There is hence no doubt that this girl who could
offer such benefits to an ill woman possessed outstanding merit.

39 Venerandus had been bishop of Clermont in the early fifth century [HF II.131. Illidius,
one of his predecessors as bishop, had been a contemporary of Martin of Tours in the later
fourth century [ H F 1.451. Gregory was particularly attached to the cult of St Illidius, since he
had once been healed at his tomb [VP 2.21 and had dedicated an oratory at Tours with his relics
[VP 2.3, GC 201. Georgius was count at Clermont probably in the middle of the sixth century
and may have been related to Gregory: see Stroheker (1948). 110.176, and Selle-Hosbach
(1974). 100.

TRANSLATION

29

35.The other tombs of saints in the same church [of St Venerandus]

In this place are many tombs that, as I have said, have been shown to
belong to believers. Next to and on the left of this tomb [of the young girl]
there is another tomb that is wholly similar in length, width, height, and
placement. At the top of the front side of this tomb is an inscription: To the
memory of St Galla. Another tomb is no less noteworthy for the quality of
its sculptures. It has been placed on a mound between the exit from the
church of St Illidius and the entrance to the church of the blessed Venerandus; some say that a monk named Alexander was buried in it. Often the
dire situation of ill people obtained health from this tomb immediately after
they scratched off some dust and drank it in a potion. As a result, this
medicine has been sought so often that [the tomb] seems to spectators to
have been perforated because of the constant profit from these benefits.
Opposite this tomb, if you walk through the door in the church of St
Venerandus, you will see on the right side a small tomb placed above
ground. This tomb is constructed from less elegant stone, but no one knows
who lies in it. The event that I am about to relate demonstrates that there is
something divine in the tomb. A beggar was accustomed to sit on top of the
tomb, as I myself saw with my own eyes. But I believe that, as human
weakness demonstrates, this man was involved in some improper misdeed,
because with a loud explosion he was struck by the power of the man lying
[in the tomb] and was tossed far away. The tomb split down the middle; still
now it can be seen to be cracked. In my opinion, the buried man thought that
the man who usually sat on his limbs was unworthy of himself. The blessed
martyr Liminius is also buried in this church. Although the inhabitants
possess the history of his [lifes]struggle, no ritual of veneration is offered to
him. As I said, in this church there are men of distinguished merits whose
names are unknown to the inhabitants; but writings [about them] are, I
believe, kept in heaven.40

36. The tombs of the bishops St Venerandus and St Nepotianus

There is also the tomb of St Venerandus, the bishop from whom the
church takes its name. The tomb is placed beneath a pulpit. When someone
decides to put his head into a small window over the tomb and prays for what
40 Galla and Alexander are otherwise unknown. Liminius, whom Gregory linked with
Antolianus [GM641, was thought to have been martyred during the third century [HFI.32-3];
since people commonly venerated martyrs as saints during this period, it is peculiar that
Liminius received no cult.

30

GLORY OF THE CONFESSORS

his situation requires, soon, if he has made a just petition, he obtains a result.
The bishop St Nepotianus is also buried there. In this world he was a man of
the highest holiness; now, with the power of the Lord he accomplishes
whatever has been requested of him. Often people with chills utter their
prayers over these tombs and acquire the medicine they desire.41

37.The monk whom an abbot watched while he prayed

There have been great lights in the world who illumined it with their miracles just as the sun [does] with its beams. Some say that in one monastery42
there was a monk who was diligent in praying and reading with the others
according to the rules of monasteries. But secretly and in private he offered
the sacrifices of prayers to the omnipotent God. For after he completed the
schedule [of prayers] in the oratory he secretly slipped away from the
presence of the brothers and went among the thick brambles, boxwoods, and
oak trees, where he hoped that no one but God alone would see him. There
he knelt in prayer. After he had knelt and prayed to the Lord for a long time,
he stood up from the ground, lifted his palms and eyes to heaven, and
silently recited a series of psalms. He looked to heaven with such remorse
that streams of tears gushed from his eyes. When one of the brothers
carefully followed [him] and saw what he was doing, he did not keep it from
the abbot. The abbot noted when the monk hurried off [again] to do this and
followed at a distance; kneeling on the ground, he watched what the faithful
disciple was practicing. As the abbot watched from a distance, he saw a great
miracle. For a flame extended from the monk's lips and gradually was
stretched to a great distance and rose above him like a rope. Without
interruption the flame gave off a bright light and seemed to ascend all the
way to heaven. And although the flame grew and was extended into the air
from his hair, it did not harm his head. The abbot was amazed by the sight
but restrained himself a bit longer. At the end of his prayers the monk
returned to the monastery. The abbot followed by a different road. A short
time later he reproved the monk with many reprimands in order to discipline
his vainglory, but he never mentioned what he had seen.

41 Nepotianus had been the successor to Illidius as bishop of Clermont during the later
fourth century [HF 1.461.
42 The location of this monastery is unknown: see Vieillard-Troiekouroff (1976). 427.

TRANSLATION

31

38. The fire that often appeared from the relics of saints
I think that this fire contains a mystical sacrament, but the darkness of my
senses cannot understand how as it becomes visible it produces such light
but does not bum anyone. I know only this one fact, that these fiies appear to
just men or above just men. For a fire appeared to Moses in the thorn bush
[Exodus 3:2] and to the other patriarchs in a burnt offering. A fire also burst
from the top of the blessed Martins head and entered the heights of the
heavens. Often I have heard the abbot Brachio tell a story, as I wrote in the
book of his life. [He said that] while he was celebrating nocturnal vigils in
the church of the aforementioned bishop [Martin], relics of saints were
brought by pilgrims and placed on the altar. Suddenly a ball of fire rose up
from the relics and seemed to climb all the way to the rafters of the church.
But, as he himself claimed, the fire did not appear to many people. The fire
also appeared during the dedication of my oratory, as I related above.43
39. Visions beneficial to my fathers illness
Nor is it absurd to believe that often the Lord deigns to reveal through
reliable visions either how the saints are to be honored or how ill people
might obtain medicine. For I recall what happened when I was a young boy.
My father suffered from an affliction of gout and was weakened by the
burning of fevers and many pains. While he lay on his bed, I saw in a vision
during the night a person who spoke to me. He said: Have you read the book
of Joshua, the son of Nun? I replied to him: I have learned no more than the
letters of the alphabet,44in the study of which I am now diligently engaged.
I do not know whether this book even exists.The person said: Go and break
from a piece of wood a small chip that is big enough to bear this name; after
writing the name in ink put the chip beneath the pillow [under] your fathers
head. The chip will protect him, if you do what I say. At daybreak I told my
mother what I had seen; she ordered that the instructions of my vision be
43 As explanation for this mystical fire, Gregory referred again to the story in Sulpicius
Severus, Dialogi 11.2.1-2,that he had previously cited [GC20]. Gregory wrote a Vita of Brachio
[VP 121, who had been an abbot in monasteries near Clermont andTours before his death in 576
[HFV.121. In that Vita Gregory repeated this miracle but insisted that only Brachio had seen the
ball of fire [VP 12.31.
44 Gregory replied that he was learning norae litterarum. Krusch (1885). 772 n.3, and
Dalton (1927). II:598, interpret notae as the characters of shorthand. But it is unlikely that
Gregory was learning stenography; Bonnet (1890). 49, and Rich6 (1976). 191, suggest more
plausibly that these notae were the letters of the alphabet. Gregory was also apparently quite
young at the time of this incident, since only at the age of eight did he begin studying literature
at Lyon with his great-uncle Nicetius [VP 8.21.

32

GLORY OF THE CONFESSORS

carried out. When I had done this, immediatelymy father recovered from his
illness. After the cycle of another year went by my father again was seized
by this affliction. A fever burned, his feet were swollen, and a severe pain
twisted his nerves. As he endured these afflictions, he lay down on his bed
with a loud groan. Again I saw the person in a vision, [this time] asking me
whether I was now familiar with the book of Tobit. I replied that I had not
read it. The person said [If you read it,] you would know that there was a
blind man whose son had an angel as a companion while he journeyed. The
son caught a fish in the river, and with his angel as guide he took out the heart
and liver. He burned these beneath his fathers eyes; immediately the
blindness vanished and the father regained his sight [cf. Tobit 11:l-131. Go
therefore and do likewise, and your father will receive relief from his pains.
I told these instructions to my mother, who immediately sent servants to the
river. A fish was caught, and what had been commanded was taken from its
internal organs and placed on coals. As soon as the smoky scent reached my
father, immediately the swelling and the pain disappeared.
40. St Germanus of Auxerre
The glorious confessor Germanus died in R0me.4~Then [his body] was
lifted up, brought to Auxerre sixty days later, and there committed to burial.
During the reign of queen Theudechild a tribune named Nunninus from
Clermont in Francia delivered taxes to the
On his return he went to
Auxerre for the purpose of devotion. He knelt before the tomb of the blessed
Germanus and prayed for a long time. Then he took his sword from its
45 Germanus was bishop at Auxerre during the first half of the fifth century. In 429 he and
bishop Lupus of Troyes [GC 661 visited Britain. Although most scholars have accepted that
Germanus died during the mid- or late 440s.recently some have proposed a major revision by
suggesting that he died during the later 430s: see Thompson (1984), 55-70, and Wood (1984).
The major source of information about bishop Germanus of Auxerre is a vita composed during
the 480s by Constantius, who was probably from Lyon: ed. W. Levison, MGH, S R M 7 (1920),
247-83; ed. and trans. R. Borius, SChr 1 12 (1965); and trans. F.R. Hoare, The western fathers
(New York, 1954). 284-320. Gregory was most likely unfamiliar with this Vita, since it
explicitly stated that Germanus had died while visiting the imperial court at Ravenna. In fact,
the only story Gregory knew of Germanus, that he had once helped the people of Brioude
discover the correct date for the festival of St Julian [VJ 291, was one not included in this Vita.
46 This Theudechild was probably the daughter of king Theuderic I (d.533), not the wife of
king Charibert (d.567) [HF IV.261: see Ewig (1974), 37. The nature of these taxes is unclear,
although Merovingian queens and other aristocratic women controlled immense private
resources of their own that they had often acquired as dowries and from which they left legacies
in their wills [cf. HF IX.26.351: see James (1982). 132-3. Nunninus is otherwise unknown: see
Selle-Hosbach (1974), 141.

TRANSLATION

33

sheath and, while no one was looking, struck the stone [lid] that lay on top of
the venerated tomb. Although [only] a tiny fragment was struck from the
tomb, the tribune stiffened up as if [made ofl bronze, so that he was totally
unable to control his limbs or to make a sound. Some [of his] servants who
saw him lying in this condition did not know what had happened to him. One
of them approached but received no response from the tribune when he
nudged him. Although the tribune was rigid, he understood that he had been
censured; so he made a vow in his heart and said Most blessed confessor, I
realize that I was presumptuous, but my piety compelled me to be bold.
Therefore, if you deign to forgive me and permit me to return to my own
home with your goodwill, I will deposit these relics in a church and take care
to celebrate your festival every year with great piety.The holy man heard his
quiet murmur, forgave him, and allowed him to leave in safety. The tribune
went and placed the relics in a church [at Moissat]; every year he faithfully
celebrated the festival of the saint.
Once I went with bishop Avitus [of Clermont] to the aforementioned
church in which the relics were deposited. The holy bishop was observing a
fast. When he entered at about the tenth hour, all of us who were with him
inhaled through our noses the fragrance of lilies and roses. We did not doubt
that this was shown to us because of the merit of the blessed bishop. For it
was the ninth month [November]. This happened in the village of M0issat.4~
41. Helarius, a senator from Dijon
Helarius, a man descended from senators, lived in the town of Dijon. He
had a wife and is said to have fathered sons with her. He embellished his
home with such chastity and complete purity of both spirit and body that no
one dared to practice adultery there. What the apostle once said when filled
with the Holy Spirit was fulfilled in that house: [Let] marriage be honorable
and the marriage bed undefiled [Hebrews 13:4]. In this place his chastity
was esteemed among lords as well as among servants; then the man died.
His tomb, which gleams because] it was sculpted from Parian marble, today
indicates what sort of man he was and what his status was according to the
ranking of this world. After he died and had been entrusted to burial in
47 Avitus served as bishop of Clermont from 571 until 594 [HF IV.351. He had once
introduced Gregory to ecclesiastical writings [VP 2 praef.], and Gregory frequently visited
and talked with him [HF X.6, GM 64.66, VJ 48, VM 3.60, VP 2.4, 11.3, 12.31. In 576 Avitus
was responsible for the rather heavy-handed conversion of the Jews at Clermont [HF V.111.
Gregory used several systems of chronology, among them one in which March was considered
the first month of the year: see des Graviers (1946).

34

GLORY OF THE CONFESSORS

accordance with mens customs, a year later his wife became ill, died, and
was washed [for burial]. The tomb was big enough to accommodate the wife
too, in accordance with her husbands wishes. The top was removed. While
the wife was being placed in the tomb, suddenly the husbands right hand
raised itself and embraced his wifes neck. The people marveled at this and
left after replacing the top. They knew what chastity the two had practiced,
what fear of God [they had had], and what love there had been in this world
between those who embraced each other in this way in their tomb.48
42. St Florida and St Paschasia

St Florida is buried in this church. As the local inhabitants say, she had
adopted a habit and was a committed nun. Not far away is another church in
which St Paschasia is buried. She is said to have appeared to the men who
were building the church of the martyr St Benignus that is next [to her own
church]. She urged them to continue the task they had begun and to know
that they were being helped by the assistance of the martyr. After she
returned to her own church she never r e a ~ p e a r e d . ~ ~
43. St Tranquillus, bishop

The blessed confessor Tranquillus is buried in this place. He has a tomb

that is above ground; from it great benefit is shown to those who make
requests. The people obtain medicine from the moss that grows on top [of
the tomb]. I in fact received this proof [of the saints power] there. For when
my hands broke out in small blisters and I consequently suffered harsh and
terrible pains, once my hands were touched by this moss the swelling went
down and I immediately withdrew them in good health?
48 Helarius (or better, Hilarius), otherwise unknown, is usually dated to the fifth century:
see Stroheker (1948). no.194, and Heinzelmann (1982), 625. Perhaps he is to be identified as
the father of Johannes, an abbot at Moutiers-Saint-Jean who died in the middle of the sixth
century [note to GC 851: see Heinzelmann (1982). 629-30..
49 Florida and Paschasia are otherwise unknown except in late traditions; Gregory
elsewhere recorded a more detailed version of the appearance of St Paschasia [GM501. Since
Dijon had the rank only of a custrum, a town, and not of a civitus, a city or administrative unit
that under the Roman empire had included both an urban center and the smaller towns and
villages in its rural hinterland [HFIII.19], it did not yet have its own bishop: see James (1982).
43-72, on the disintegration and transformation of the Roman civitus. But the bishops of
Langres, whose territorial jurisdiction (or, in an ecclesiastical sense, diocese) included Dijon,
often resided and were buried in Dijon: see Gras (1955) and Wood (1979), 74-5. Benignus was
an apocryphal martyr whose cult Gregorius, a great-grandfather of Gregory, had invented while
he was bishop of Langres (and Dijon) during the early sixth century [GM501.
50 Tranquillus is otherwise unknown.

TRANSLATION

35

44. Severinus, bishop of Bordeaux

Bordeaux also has venerable patrons who often reveal themselves in

miracles. With great faith the city honors the bishop St Severinus in a suburb
outside the walls. For although I already said in the preface of this book that
I would record only those events that God deigned to work after the death of
his saints at their intercession: nevertheless I do not think it absurd if I
recall a few events from the life of those about whom I know that nothing has
been written. According to the trustworthy account of the clergy at Bordeaux, St Severinus came to that city from the East. Bishop Amandus then
governed the church at Bordeaux. While Severinus was traveling, the Lord
appeared to Amandus in a vision during the night and said: Arise and go to
meet my servant Severinus. Honor him just as the holy Scriptures say that a
friend of the Divine is to be honored. For he is a better man than you and
more distinguished because of his merits. Bishop Amandus got up, took his
staff in his hand, and went to meet Severinus. He knew nothing about the
holy man except what the Lord had revealed [to him]. And behold, St
Severinus came as if to meet him. They approached each other and addressed
each other with their own names. In like manner they quickly embraced;
after kissing and offering a prayer they entered the cathedral accompanied
by the loud chanting of psalms. Bishop Amandus subsequently loved and
venerated Severinus to such an extent that he put him in his own office [of
bishop] and considered himself to be his subordinate. A few years later the
blessed Severinus died. After the burial of Severinus bishop Amandus again
received his office; there is no doubt that this office was restored to him
because of the obedience that he had demonstrated toward the saint of God.
Because Severinusholiness was recognized, the local inhabitants thereafter
took him as their patron. They knew that whenever their city was either
invaded by an illness or besieged by some enemy or disrupted by some
vendetta, they would immediately be delivered from this threatening
disaster as soon as the people gathered at the church of the saint, observed
fasts, celebrated vigils, and piously offered prayers. After I wrote this entry
I learned that the priest Fortunatus had written a Vita of St Se~erinus.~
51 In the preface to his VP Gregory allowed himself the same flexibility: having first
intended to write only about the miracles that happened at the tombs of martyrs and confessors,
he later decided to describe their lives too. But in the existing preface to the GC Gregory did not
mention this initial limitation. Presumably he was referring here to a statement in an original
preface that he later omitted.
52 Amandus had been bishop at Bordeaux in the early fifth century: see Griffe (19641966), 11:2714. Elsewhere Gregory included a fragmentary list of distinguished bishops in

36

GLORY OF THE CONFESSORS

45. Romanus, a priest of the same city [of Bordeaux]

In the territory [of Bordeaux] is [the tomb of] St Romanus the priest.
According to the written records of his life, our Martin [of Tours] placed him
in his tomb. For his tomb is next to the town of Blaye, which is situated on a
bank of the Garonne River.53 Often through the display of his power he
rescues people who are about to die from being shipwrecked in this river.
[When swamped] by the waves of this billowing torrent they cry out: Have
pity on us, St Romanus, confessor of God. Soon the storm is quieted, and
the people reach the banks they had hoped for. It is not proper for anyone
who has deserved to see Romanuschurch from the middle of the river to die
in a shipwreck. I myself experiencedhis power in a situation of great duress.
A driving storm that rained for many days caused the Garonne river to flood
outside its banks. As the wind whipped about the river overflowed in huge
waves. Overpowering mountains of water were tossed up that caused great
fear among the onlookers. But after the blessed confessor was petitioned, by
the assistance of his power he brought it about (so I believe) that he
restrained the crashing and caused the channel of the river to be level. And so
I entered a boat and crossed to the other bank without any danger.

46.The two priests who chanted psalms

Two priests are buried in a village in the territory of the same city [of
Bordeaux].These were men of outstanding holiness,as this event demonstrates.
For the miracle that happened during this event clearly proves that they still
live after their burial. The two priests were buried in the same church but
against opposite walls. The tomb of one was on the south side, the tomb of
the other on the north side. Later the clericsbegan to chant the psalms during
the celebration of the [liturgical] office. When they had divided into choirs
and [each] group sang songs to the Lord, the voice of each priest joined in
the public chanting of the psalms. For one choir was augmented by the
assistance of the voice of one priest, while the other choir gained strength
from the melody of the others voice. This harmony was so sweet that it often
delighted attentive listeners. In addition, benefits are often shown to be
Gaul, among them Amandus [HF II.131, that he cited from a Pauiinus who was perhaps
Paulinus of Nola: see Courcelle (1964). 284-6. Fortunatus Vita of Severinus still survives: ed.
W. Lvison, MGH, S R M I (1920). 219-24.
53 No earlier evidence supports Gregorys claim that Martin of Tours buried Romanus [cf.
GC 221. The Vifue of Romanus that survive are very late compositions: see WeillardTroiekouroff (1976), 53.

TRANSLATION

37

granted, if a faithful prayer is presented. This happened in the village of

B~uliac.~~
47. The church at Rions
Not far away is the village of Rions. Since there was a catholic church in
the village, when the Goths attacked they transferred it to the impurity of
their own sect [of Arianism]. But next to the church was a large house. When
it was time to celebrateEaster vigil, these [Goths], with their heretical bishops,
immersed the infants in our [catholic] church, so that the people might more
easily be bound to this sect after access to baptism [in the church] was
denied to the [catholic] priest. But while these heretics were in our church,
the priest had a shrewd idea; he prepared his ministry and began to baptize in
their house, while they were baptizing in the church. Divine vengeance
struck; none of the twenty infants whom the heretics immersed in the church
could remain alive to the end of Easter. When the heretics saw this and
worried that their own house was becoming a church, they returned his own
church to the priest. None of the infants whom the priest baptized at that
time died except for the one whom God deigned to call after a proper age.55
48. The priests Justinus and Similinus

St Justinus the priest is buried within the temtory of Cieutat in the

village of Saint-Justin-de-Pardiac.He is distinguished for his many miracles;
often possessed people who are shouting are cleansed at his tomb. Similinus,
who performed the duties of the same rank [of the priesthood] in the church,
shares in his merits and holiness. Similinus is buried in Tarbes, a village in
the temtory [of Cieutat]; he flourishes with similar miracles.56
49. St Severus, priest
St Severus is associated with this city [of Cieutat] and its territory. The
descendant of a noble family, he was ordained a priest. He built one church
in the countryside of an estate at Saint-Justin that belonged to him and
another church of God in another village; he fortified both with the relics of
54 These two priests remain unidentified: see Vieillard-Troiekouroff (1976), 59.
55 Rouche (1979), 40-1, uses this story as another example of the persecution initiated
against Catholic Christians by the Arian Euric, king of the Visigoths from 466 to 484. But
Gregorys account of the hostile religious policies of Euric [HF 11.251 is fundamentally
misleading: see Wood (1985). 255.
56 Justinus and Similinus are otherwise unknown: see Vieillard-Troiekouroff (1976), 2601,292.

38

GLORY OF THE CONFESSORS

saints. When the Lords day [Sunday] came, he celebrated mass in one place
and then journeyed to the other. The distance between the churches was
about twenty miles. On every Lords day this was his duty. It happened that
on one Lords day, while he was traveling and hurrying very quickly by
kicking his horse with his heel, the branch of a medlar tree struck his head.
Severus knew he had been hurt and said: May the God at whose bidding you
sprang from the ground command you to wither. Immediately the tree dried
up all the way to the roots of its sap. Severus proceeded where he was going;
after celebrating the liturgy he stayed in the same place for three days. On
the fourth day he returned. When he saw the withered tree, he said: Woe am
I, who in the bitterness of my heart cursed this tree. Behold how it has dried
up! He dismounted, knelt at the roots of the tree, and said to the Lord:
Almighty God, at your bidding everything is governed and under your
control the unborn are created, the created live, and the dead are renewed. By
trusting in your command of salvation we believe that we live after the death
of this body because of resurrection in the future. Order this tree to live again
and be as it was earlier. Immediately moisture rose up from the ground as if
through some arrangement of arteries and was circulated through all the
branches of the outstretched tree as bountiful nourishment.The tree softened
its dry knots and its leaves sprouted. The bystanders marveled that the tree
was again living. Severus had such great power and charity that, as noted
above, he made his own houses into churches and he spent his own resources
on feeding the poor. In one of the churches he placed his own tomb in which
he was [eventually] buried. For he was accustomed to pick the blossoms of
lilies when they bloomed and to attach them to the walls of his c h ~ r c h . ~
50. The lily by his tomb

It is therefore apparent what sort of life Severus led in this world with the
assistance of the Lord that now he is distinguished by visible signs. As time
passed the lily that I said he had picked and placed in the church where his
tomb was located withered; the petals of the blossoms drooped down and the
stalk was dry.The lily seemed to be so dried out that if it were touched with
a hand, it was thought to disintegrateimmediately into dust. It remained in this
brittle state for an entire year. But when the day came when the confessor
57 This Severus is not to be confused with Sulpicius Severus, a younger contemporary of
Martin of Tours [note to GC 41. Severus the priest is perhaps to be dated to the late fifth and
early sixth century and may have been a correspondent of bishop Ruricius of Limoges: see
Mathisen (1982). 384, and Heinzelmann (1982). 693. His second church was probably at SaintSever-de-Rustan, where he may have been buried: see Vieillard-Troiekouroff (1976), 276.

TRANSLATION

39

migrated from his body, the lily revived with renewed freshness. As its petals
revived a bit, you might see the blossoms lifted and renewed, without any
moisture from water or from the ground, to that appearance they had previously had. In this way the blessed,confessor offers new blossoms from his
tomb; for with the other saints Severus flourishes in heaven like a palm tree.
51. The tombs that were raised [from the ground]

Three priests were buried in the temtory of the village of Aire-sur-1Adour.

According to an ancient account they were not related by a bond of blood,
but they did become allies in the love of God and brothers in heaven. Since
their tombs were placed next to each other they distinguished the area of this
one place with the frequency of their miracles. They lay at rest in the spots
where they were buried for many years. Recently the pavement that was
formed from lime and crushed bricks, [as hard] as the hardest stone, split and
exposed the top of one tomb. Once this tomb was lifted a bit, the ground was
split and revealed the top of another tomb. After the appearance of this
second tomb a third tomb followed; after their initial appearance the second
and third tombs were slowly raised above ground. Already now the first
tomb is free from the weight of the ground and offers itself exposed to the
sight of men; the other two tombs are still following [the first], but each year
they emerge further [from the ground]. 0 miraculous mystery of the Divine!
This mystery exposes to this world the purity of the bodies that were buried
by producing them from [beneath] the pavement. It prepares for the resurrection those who must not be given to the worm or to dying, but who must
be made equal to the bright light of the sun and who must be glorified by
their resemblance to the body of the Lord. As I said above, these tombs are
within the territory of the village of Aire-sur-1 Adour.
52. The tomb of bishop Theomastus

Theomastus was noted for his holiness in accordance with the meaning
of his name, and he is said to have been bishop of Mainz. For some unknown
reason he was expelled from Mainz and went to Poitiers. There he ended his
present life by remaining in a pure confession. What his reward is in heaven
is revealed at his tomb; for the power coming from his tomb proves that he
lives in Paradise. What the Lord Jesus Christ said to Martha in the Gospel is
truly demonstratedin this man: He who believes in me, even though he dies, lives.
And everyone who lives and believes in me will not die in eternity [John
1 1:25-261. This tomb is above ground in front of the courtyard [of the church]
of the blessed Hilary. Many people have scratched dust from this tomb;

40

GLORY OF THE CONFESSORS

when the dust is swallowed,it offers such a remedy for toothaches and fevers
that whoever drinks it marvels at the result. This blessing is sought so constantly
that already the sarcophagus appears to have been perforated in one spot:*

53.The confessor Lupianus

Within the temtory of Poitiers that is contiguous to Nantes, that is, in the
village of RezC, a man named Lupianus is buried. He died [while clothed] in
the white robe [of baptism]. This man is said to have received the gift of
baptism from the blessed bishop Hilary; but soon, as I said, he migrated
from his body. Such favor was attributed to him by God who is the dispenser
of all good that at his tomb a blind man has deserved [to receive] his sight, a
paralytic his mobility, and a mute man his ~peech.5~
54. Bishop Melanius of Rennes
After the signs of innumerable miracles bishop Melanius of Rennes was
distinguished in this world, [although he was] equally eager for heaven.
Over his tomb Christians constructed a building that was noted for its height.
But at the instigation of the evil one, who is always opposed to good works,
at a certain time the building caught fire. The shroud that covered the holy
tomb of the confessor was made of linen. As the flames increased, the framework of beams suddenly broke and roof tiles, bindings, and other materials
on the roof collapsed. The top of one rafter caught on fire; pushed by the
force of the collapse the rafter fell on the tomb of the saint. It could have not
only burned the shroud but also crushed it between itself and the stone top of
the tomb. A large pile of coals fell on top. The other curtains that were hanging
on the walls or over doors were burned up during the first blast of flames.
But this shroud was not only not burned, it was not even slightly discolored
by the intense fire. When the fire was over, the people came with loud cries
and hurried to the tomb of the bishop. Amidst their wailing and crying they
were about to receive new reasons for rejoicing. They removed the beams with
their embers from the top of the tomb, picked up the shroud over the tomb,
and brushed off the coals. Everyone was amazed that it was undamaged.60
58 Theomastus (or Thaumastus) was bishop at Mainz in the early fifth century: see
Vieillard-Troiekouroff (1976), 224. Thaumastos is a Greek adjective or name meaning
wonderful or marvelous.
59 Lupianus is otherwise unknown.
60 Melanius was bishop of Rennes during the first part of the sixth century: see Duchesne
(1894-1915), II:344-5. A vita of Melanius survives, composed during the ninth century: ed. B.
Krusch, MGH, SRM 3 (1896). 372-6.

TRANSLATION

41

55.Bishop Victorius of Le Mans

Bishop Victorius of Le Mans often distinguished himself with great
miracles. For some say that once the city was being consumed by fire. As the
wind blew the flames were tossed about here and there in huge balls [of fire].
Like a good shepherd Victorius did not allow the sheepfold of his church to
be destroyed by the treachery of Satan. He confronted the whirlwind, and
after he raised his hand and made the sign of the cross against it,
immediately the entire fire died out. [The people in] the city were freed
[from the fire] and thanked their pastor because he had not allowed their
possessions to be devoured by the threatening fire. Often ill people are cured
at his tomb.6
56.Abbot Martinus of Saintes
Some say that Martinus, an abbot at Saintes, was a student of our Martin
[of Tours]. He is buried in peace in a village [in the temtory] of Saintes, in
the monastery that he built according to the instructions of his teacher. One
inhabitant of the countryside presented his hands that were contracted to the
tomb of Martinus and returned with them cured. Another man had lost his
mobility because his tendons had been inflamed by a fever in the fluid and
his knees had been twisted. When he knelt before the holy tomb, he received
new strength after the dryness was relieved and he lifted himself up with his
health. Then he served there for many years. Bishop Palladius was unable [to
move] Martinus tomb with the help of many men. But when the assistance
of the confessor helped, he moved the tomb with five abbots and put it where
he wished.62

57.Bishop Bibianus of the same city [of Saintes]

Bishop Bibianus is also buried in a suburb of Saintes. A book that has
already been written about his life narrates the bulk of his miracles. These
days, after being entreated he repeatedly dispenses healing to those who are
weak. It therefore seems best for me to undertake to mention one of these
miracles. There was a woman whose hands had withered and were being
61 Xctorius (or Victurius) was bishop of Le Mans during the mid-fifth century: see
Duchesne (1894-1915). II:336-7.
62 No earlier evidence supports Gregorys claim that Martinus was a student of Martin of
Tours [cf. GC 221; his tomb was apparently located in Saujon: see Vieillard-Troiekoumff
(1976), 285-6. Bishop Palladius of Saintes was a contemporary of Gregory [GM55, GC 591.
They had once met in 585 [HFVIIL2,7], and in 589 Palladius acquired some relics of St Martin
from Gregory [VM4.81.

42

GLORY OF THE CONFESSORS

lacerated by her fingernails; after the tendons contracted, her hands lost their
ability for work. After she devoutly knelt before the tomb of the blessed saint
and offered a prayer, the sinews of her fingers were loosened and she
deserved to raise her hands that had been restored in gratitude to the Lord.63
58. Bishop Trojanus of this city [of Saintes]
Bishop Trojanus of Saintes was joined with Bibianus in heaven and was
buried next to his tomb. This bishop is said to have had great power. Once in
the darkness of the night he was walking about the holy shrines that then
surrounded the city, accompanied by only one subdeacon. A huge ball of
light appeared to him, as if it had descended from heaven. After acknowledging the light, the man of God said to his companion: Do not follow any
further, until I call you. The subdeacon fell to the ground and not far away
watched what miracle the servant of God performed. For he was standing on
public land. As the light came nearer, the bishop humed to meet it. He
bowed himself to the ground and said: I ask, bless me, holy bishop. He who
had approached [in the light] replied to him: You bless me, Trojanus, bishop
of God. After they exchanged kisses and offered a prayer, they spoke
together for a long time. The subdeacon was amazed as he watched, and he
saw the light that had appeared return by the same way it had come. After
summoning the subdeacon to himself Trojanus said: Come now, so that we
might complete the trip we began for visiting the shrines of the saints. The
subdeacon was afraid and said: Mylord, I ask that you not disdain my
humility but tell me what you have seen. For 1noticed that it was something
divine. The bishop said to him: I [will] tell you, but you will repeat it to no
one. For know that on the day you speak openly of these events you will
migrate from this world. He continued: I saw St Martin of Tours, and he
spoke with me. Take care therefore lest you dare to reveal the secrets of God
to anyone. Eventually the bishop completed the course of his life and died.
His subdeacon was full of days and felt badly that the power of St Trojanus
was hidden. So after the bishop, the clerics, and the senior citizens were
gathered, the subdeacon recounted in sequence everything that he had heard
63 Bibianus (or better, Vivianus) was bishop of Saintes during the middle of the fifth
century. A vita survives: ed. B. Krusch, MGH, SRM 3 (1896), 94-100. Whether this Vita was
the book to which Gregory referred depends upon its date of composition. Although Krusch,
op.cit. 92, argued that the vita was a Carolingian composition of the eighth or ninth century,
others have dated its composition toward the middle of the sixth century and linked it to the
completion of a church dedicated to St Vivianus: see Lot (1929). Courcelle (1964). 339-47,
Griffe (1964-1966). 11:70-71.274-5, and Vieillard-Troiekouroff (1976). 284-5.

TRANSLATION

43

from the saint and how he had seen the mystery of the light that most clearly
revealed the faith of Trojanus and the glory of Martin. He concealed none of
the events and added these words: So that you may have proof that what I
say is true, when my discourse is over I will end my life. Once he said these
words, his eyes were closed and, to the surprise of the bystanders, he died.
The blessed Trojanus was, as I said, a bishop of great power, and he was
held in honor among all the citizens of his city. This story is told of him
while he was still alive. Whenever he put on, as he was accustomed, a new
cloak in which he was about to journey around his diocese, various people
pulled off threads from this garment. For everyone thought that whatever he
could snatch from that cloak was beneficial. Although Trojanus was buried
in the ground, through his many miracles he demonstrates that he lives in
heaven. Possessed men, people suffering from chills, and other ill people
often pray at his tomb and leave after receiving their healtha
59. The tomb in the same city [of Saintes] that was moved by divine aid
Not far from the shrine of this confessor [Trojanus] was a small oratory.
There was a huge sarcophagus in one comer where an arch had its footing. It
was said that two people were buried in the sarcophagus, a husband and his
wife. After these two had been clothed in white robes following their
baptism they departed from this world. Antiquity claims that these two were
descended from the family of St Hilary of Poitiers. This tomb was situated in
such a place that not only did it hinder the passage of people as they entered,
but it also made it difficult for the wall that was soaked with rainwater to be
repaired, because the tomb was next to it. Therefore bishop Palladius of
Saintes, who was descended from the ancient family of the wealthy Palladius, attempted with a great effort to move the tomb from that place. After
more than three hundred men had joined together, he tried to drag the tomb
with ropes and push it with levers. Already set in place were the stones on
which the sarcophagus was to be placed. All the strength of the men who
were pulling was finally applied, but they were not strong enough to shift the
tomb. Everyones face was soaked in sweat, but the overwhelming task was
not completed. Cries were raised of men encouraging [each other] and
shouting: Ho, come on, pull on the rope! But the tomb was not moved at
all. Why say more? They were all worn out from the task, and at nightfall
they all sought to be given some rest. The darkness of the night passed.
64 Trojanus was bishop of Saintes in the early sixth century: see Duchesne (1894-1915),
II:73.

44

GLORY OF THE CONFESSORS

When the new morning dawned, the bishop was womed in his thinking and
asked that his men go again to the oratory. He went before everyone else.
Upon entering he found the tomb standing in all firmness on the stones that
he had put in place. He marveled and glorified the Lord who with his capable
power accomplished what the hand of a man could not accomplish. The
names of these two people have not been revealed to anyone.65
60. St Nicetius, bishop of Lyon
The confessor Nicetius died in Lyon. He was a man of total holiness, of
great chastity in his life, and of outstanding charity. I am unable either to
research or even to narrate his almsgiving and his deeds of kindness.66After
he sent his blessed spirit to heaven, he was placed on a funeral bier and
brought to the church in which he was [to be] buried. And behold! A young
boy who had been afflicted with blindness for a long time was mourning
with the others and followed along with the assistance of a guide. While he
was walking, it happened that a voice was carried to his ear and secretly
whispered: Go to the funeral bier, and when you have crawled beneath it,
you will immediately receive your vision. But the boy asked the man who
was leading him who it was who had whispered these words in his ears. The
man said he had seen no one who had spoken to the boy. After the voice
echoed in his ears a second and a third time, the boy knew that something
unusual must be done. He asked to be led to the funeral bier. He approached,
slipped into the crowd of deacons clothed in white, and entered where he had
been ordered. Then, when he began to invoke the name of the saint, immediately his eyes were opened and he received his sight. Thereafter the boy was
diligent in serving in the church at the tomb of the saint and in lighting the
65 Hilary had been bishop at Poitiers during the middle of the fourth century, and his cult
had become one of the most important and influential in Merovingian Gaul [GC 21. But nothing
is known about other members of his family. Bishop Palladius was Gregorys contemporary
and was noted for his promotion of various cults [GM 55, GC 561. Members of the family of the
Palladii had already distinguished themselves during the fifth century as bishops and teachers:
see PLRE II:821.
66 Nicetius was Gregorys great-uncle; he had succeeded his own uncle Sacerdos as bishop
of Lyon in 552 and died in 573. Before he became a bishop he had tutored the young Gregory
[VP 8.21; after 563 Gregory served with him as a deacon [VP 8.3, GC 611. Gregory firmly
praised Nicetius career and denigrated his successor [HFIV.36]; he also finally did compose a
Era of Nicetius [VP 81, in which he repeated some information from his earlier accounts. In that
vita Gregory mentioned an anonymous compilation of miracle stories about St Nicetius that
still survives: Era bemi Nicerii Lugdunensis episcopi, ed. B. Krusch, MGH, SRh4 3 (1896).
5214.

TRANSLATION

45

lamps. But he was oppressed and harassed by some of the great men in the
city, so that he could have no stipend for sustenance. Often he begged for
these necessities at the blessed tomb. The saint appeared to him in a vision
and said: Go to king Guntramn and carefully tell him what you are
enduring. He will offer you clothing and food, and he will deliver you from
the hand of your enemies. The boy was encouraged by this advice, went to
the king, and took what he supplied.67
Even now many miracles are granted at the tomb of the blessed
confessor under the direction of Christ. There the chains of poor people are
broken, the blind receive their sight, demons are made to flee, paralytics are
restored to health, and those enduring the spasms of fevers are freed.
Miracles are revealed in this place so often that it is tedious to record them in
sequence. But one trustworthy man told me that a few days ago four blind
men had received their sight there; recently he also saw a healthy man whom
he had once known to be lame.68

61. The tomb of bishop Helius of the same city [of Lyon]
Once I was walking to meet the aforementioned bishop [Nicetius].While
I was visiting the holy shrines of Lyon, Nicetius, who had preceded me to the
crypt of the blessed Helius, invited me in for prayer. He said: A great bishop
is buried in this place. After offering a prayer I admired the tomb of the
saint. While I silently thought of asking something about his merits, I noticed
an inscription on the door [that mentioned] how a violator of this tomb had
plundered the lifeless corpse. I was curious about the occasion [and asked]
whether the events that were seen to have been depicted on the door were true.
Nicetius told this story to me: St Helius was bishop of this city during the
time of the pagans. He died and was buried by believers. On the following
night a pagan came, pushed back the stone that covered the sarcophagus,and
attempted to rob the body of the saint that he had propped against himself.
But the saint extended his arms and tightly embraced the man who was pressed
against him. In this way the saint held the wretched man in his arms, as if he
had been restrained by straps, until morning. The people were watching.
67 King Guntramn had a reputation for his charity [ H F IX.211.
68 This informant was probably the deacon Agiulf, who stopped at Lyon on his return from
Rome, where he had witnessed the inauguration of Gregory I as bishop of Rome in 590 [VP 8.6,
HF X.11. Gregory of Tours therefore would have written at least this last sentence during the
early 590s. Note though that Chadwick (1948) argues that Gregorys deacon was in Rome
during the 580s and that H F X. 1 was a later interpolation: but see Krusch (195 1). xx n.3. and
Buchner (1955), xxv n.1.

46

GLORY OF THE CONFESSORS

Then the judge of the region ordered the violator of the tomb to be taken
away and condemned by the sentence of a legal penalty. But the man was not
released by the saint. The judge understood the wish of the dead man and
made a guarantee about the mans life. Then the man was released and returned
in safety. 0 holy vengeance that is combined with kindness! The saint
embraced the man so as to expose him, but he did not permit the man whom
he had already restored and corrected to be handed over for p ~ n i s h m e n t . ~ ~
62. The daughter of emperor Leo

The daughter of the Roman emperor Leo was troubled by an unclean

spirit. When she was brought to the holy shrines, the evil spirit repeatedly
cried out: I will not leave this girl until the archdeacon of Lyon comes.
Unless he throws me out of this vessel that I have possessed, I will in no way
leave this girl. Upon hearing these words the emperor sent his men to Gaul.
They found the archdeacon and as suppliants begged him to deign to go to
Rome with them to see the girl. But the archdeacon refused and cried out
that he was unworthy [to be the one] through whom Christ revealed
miracles. He was then admonished by the advice of his bishop and went with
the messengers. When he came to the emperor, he was received with honor.
He heard about the illness of the girl and took himself to the church of the
blessed apostle Peter. There he extended his fasting for three days, keeping
vigils and praying. On the fourth day he expelled the unclean spirit from the
girls body by invoking our Lord Jesus Christ and by [using] the sign of the
cross. Once the girl was healed, the emperor offered him three hundred
pounds of gold. But this man was of a higher spirit and rejected fleeting
riches as worthless. He said: If you wish to enrich me with your gifts, dispense that which will benefit the entire city. He continued: Remit to the
people the tribute that is owed to your taxes as far as the third milestone
around the walls of the city. This will be an advantageousbenefit to the souls
of both [of us]. I do not need your gold. On behalf of the good fortune of you
and your family distribute the gold to the poor. The emperor did not refuse
this suggestion; he distributed the gold to the poor and conceded to the city
the tribute it requested. Still today tribute is not paid to the public treasury
[from the land] around the walls of the city as far as the third milestone.
After the death of the blessed archdeacon the emperor said to his
servants: If this man loved God more than money, the church that such a
69 Bishop Helius is otherwise unknown but perhaps served during the third century: see
Duchesne (1894-1915), II:162.

TRANSLATION

47

minister served is properly to be honored by our gifts. Then the emperor

ordered that a cover for enclosing the holy Gospels, a paten, and a chalice be
made from pure gold and precious gems. Once the project was completed by
marvelous craftsmanship, the emperor sent [the gifts] to the church with a
trustworthy man. But the messenger who was carrying the gifts, when he
came to the Alps, turned aside to the house of a goldsmith. When the
goldsmith inquired of him what business he had, the messenger privately but
plainly revealed his mission. The goldsmith said: If you show agreement
with my suggestion, this plan can divert much wealth to us. Through the
instigation of the devil the messenger was attracted to the plan. As is a
common saying among peasants, often hearts are united between the one
who is greedy for gold and the one who proposes the deceptions of a fraud;
immediately the messenger became the partner of the goldsmiths plan.
Then that forger made similar precious objects from silver [in such a way]
that they were thought to be nothing else than the purest of gold. With nails
he very carefully attached the decorations that had been applied with jewels
and gold threads. But he did not damage the chalice, because its jewels were
solidly embedded in it. Then the messenger arrived at Lyon with his fakes.
He handed over the gifts and was rewarded by the bishop. The messenger
returned to his accomplice and asked to receive the gold that had been
formed from the precious objects. The goldsmith said that everything was
still not ready but promised to complete the task that night. At the end of
dinner while they were sitting together in the room where the goldsmith did
his work, suddenly the room was jolted by an earthquake and collapsed upon
them. The ground split beneath their feet and swallowed them up along with
their money. Alive and screaming they fell into the underworld. God swiftly
took revenge for deceiving his church. Many times I have seen these
precious objects in the church at Lyon. Let this be evidence for the people, so
that no one might try either to steal or to defraud the possessions of the
church. For he will quickly see the judgement of God threatening himself.70
63. The woman who picked up the sandals of the martyr Epipodius
A woman is buried in a suburb next to the walls of this city [of Lyon].
She is said to have picked up the sandal belonging to the blessed martyr
Epipodius that fell from his foot when he was led away to his martyrdom.
7 0 This story seems to have been an etiological legend that explained the importance and
the potency of these objects. The details and chronology were particularly vague. Emperor Leo
I reigned from 457 to 474, but in Constantinople, not Rome.

48

GLORY OF THE CONFESSORS

Often people suffering from chills and other ill people are healed at her
tomb. They drink the dust they have scratched from the tomb, and they
depart with their health.
64. Another woman whose husband appeared on behalf of an offering
Some say that in this city [of Lyon] there were two people, a man and his
wife, who were distinguished members of a senatorial family. Since they
had no children when they were about to die, they left the cathedral as their
heir. The man died first and was buried in the church of St Mary.72For an
entire year his wife visited this church; she diligently prayed, attended the
celebrations of mass every day, and made offerings on behalf of the memory
of her husband. Because she never doubted that through the mercy of the
Lord her deceased husband would repose [in Paradise] on the day that she
made an offering to the Lord on behalf of his soul, she always presented a
pint of wine from Gaza to the sanctuary of the holy church. But the subdeacon was a sinful man and kept the wine from Gaza for his own drinking
[pleasure]. Since the woman never came forward for the grace of communicating [during the celebration of the Eucharist], he instead offered very
bitter vinegar in the chalice. When God was pleased to expose this fraud, the
husband appeared to his wife [in a vision] and said: Alas, alas, my most
beloved wife. How did the effort of my life in this world reach [such a point]
that I now taste vinegar in my offering? The woman replied to him: In
truth, I have not forgotten your charity and I have always offered the most
fragrant wine from Gaza in the sanctuary of my God on behalf of your
repose. She awoke, thought about the vision, and did not forget it. As was
her custom, she got up for matins. After matins were over and mass had been
celebrated, she approached the cup of salvation. When she sipped from the
chalice, the vinegar was so bitter that she thought her teeth would have fallen
out if she had not swallowed the drink quickly. Then she rebuked the
subdeacon, and what had been done sinfully and fraudulently was corrected.
But I think that this miracle did not happen without the merit of the good
deed [performed by the woman].
65. Bishop Memmius of Chiilons-sur-Marne

Bishop Memmius was the special patron of Chiilons-sur-Marne. While

he was still alive in this mortal body he is said to have revived a dead man. I
71 Epipodius was thought to have been martyred during the late second century [GM 491.
72 The location of this church is uncertain: see Vieillard-Troiekouroff (1976), 150. Weidemann (1982), I:340, suggests that the church may even have belonged to the couple.

TRANSLATION

49

have now often seen at his tomb the broken chains and fetters of poor people;
in addition, I myself personally experienced his power. Once when I was
staying in that city one of my servants was seized by a fever, weakened by
vomiting, and simultaneously rejected food and drink. I then suffered from a
great depression because the illness of this servant posed delays for my
journey. Immediately I entered the church of St Memmius. I knelt at his
tomb on behalf of my servant, I wept, and I prayed that he who had often
demonstrated his regard for piety and his pity by shattering the fetters of
those who were burdened by their chains should supply the coolness of a
cure for this man who burned with a fever. [What happened next is]
extraordinary to report! That very night the ill man was visited by the power
of the saint, and at daybreak he arose from his bed in good health.73

66. Bishop Lupus of Troyes

Everyone knows that bishop Lupus was buried in Troyes, a city in the
Champagne. Because he was treated badly, a slave of a man named Maurus
fled to the church of Lupus. His master was angry and followed on his heels.
Maurus entered the church but did not kneel in prayer; instead he began to
spew out curses against the saint and said: You, Lupus, will you steal my
slave? Because of you, it will not be possible for me to exact from him the
revenge that is owed [to me]. He put out his hand and began to drag his slave
away, and he said: Today this Lupus does not stretch out his hand from the
tomb to take you from my hands. As the wretched man uttered these words,
immediately his tongue that had poured out curses against the saint was
bound by divine power. The man was transformed and began to dance about
the entire church, lowing like a animal and not speaking like a man. When
these events were reported to his servants, they seized him and brought him
to his own house. His wife presented many gifts to the church, but on the third
day he ended his life in extreme pain. After his death his wife took back what
she had given [to the church]. The slave however remained as a free man.74
73 Memmius was supposed to have been the first bishop of Chllons-sur-Mame: see
Duchesne (1894-1915), III:95. The church with his tomb was at Saint-Memmie: see VieillardTroiekouroff (1976), 268-9, and, for his later cult, van der Straeten (1974). A Vita composed in
the late seventh century survives: ed. W. Levison, MGH, SRM 5 (1910), 365-7.
74 In 429 Lupus had visited Britain with bishop Gerrnanus of Auxerre [GC 401; by the time
of his death in 478, he had served as bishop of Troyes for over fifty years: see Heinzelmann
(1982). 641. A Vita of Lupus survives: ed. B. Krusch, MGH, SRM 7 (1920), 295-302. Even if
composed later, this Vita still used older traditions: see Griffe (1964-1966). IL301-4, and
especially Ewig (1978), who rehabilitates its historical reliability.

50

GLORY OF THE CONFESSORS

67.His assistant Aventinus

A monk named Aventinus assisted bishop Lupus. After the bishop died,
captives fled to Aventinus, who presented a ransom to their master. But the
master bound himself with an oath and said I will never accept this ransom
except in my own district. He raised his right hand [and swore] that if
Aventinus brought the money here, then he would immediately free the
captives from the bondage of slavery. The ransom was brought there, but the
master forgot his oath; while he pretended to free the captives, he was
himself being bound. For immediately a fingertip of the hand that had made
this oath began to throb terribly. The pain gradually increased and spread
through his entire hand and arm. Why say more? Although the master
sacrificed his arm by having it amputated at the joint of the elbow, he still
exhaled his spirit. Afterwards his wife again wished to recall these captives
to slavery; but she was struck with a headache and followed her husband [to
death]. And so these men remained with perpetual freedom, even though
without the security of any written document.

68. Bishop Marcellinus

Embrun has bishop Marcellinus as its special patron. Christ worked
many miracles through Marcellinus while he was still in his body. He is said
to have made a pool for baptism, in which water is said to rise by divine
power on the anniversary of the Lords Supper. The water is brought from
this pool to another that an ancient tradition instituted for baptism; but it
does not overflow, Ijust] as I mentioned above in the case of the springs in
Spain. A lamp constantly offers light at the tomb of this saint; once it is lit, it
burns for many nights without any additional [oil]. Often it happens that if
the lamp is blown out by the wind, it is lit again by divine power. Often ill
people take the oil from this lamp as medi~ine.~

69. Bishop Marcellus of Die

Marcellus of Die was a bishop of magnificent holiness. Once lit, a lamp
usually gives light at his tomb likewise for a long time. From the oil [of this
lamp] the power of the Lord offers medicine to ill people.76
75 Marcellinus was thought to have been bishop of Embrun in the mid- or late fourth
century: see Duchesne (1894-1915). 1280-1. Gregorys account of the Spanish springs that
also filled a baptismal pool on the anniversary of the Lords Supper is in GM 23. For Gregory
springs served as symbols of spiritual regeneration: see de Nie (1985), 93-101.
76 Marcellus was bishop of Die from 463 until his death in 5 1 0 see Heinzelmann (1982),
645-6. A vita of Marcellus survives,composed in the early ninth century but based on an earlier
vita: see Dolbeau (1983).

TRANSLATION

51

70. The confessor Mitrias of Aix

The famous athlete Mitrias was granted to Aix-en-Provence.According
to a history of his life, while in his body he was a man of magnificent
holiness. Although he was a slave by rank, he was a free man through his
righteousness. Those who read the account of his [lifes] struggle say that he
completed the course of [his lifes] good works and departed from this world
as a victor. Through his public miracles he often reveals that he lives in
heaven. Once, when bishop Franco administered the church of Aix, Childeric,
who was then an important man at the court of king Sigibert, seized a villa
belonging to the church. Childeric said that the church of Aix improperly
possessed it. More swiftly than can be said the bishop was summoned. He
gathered oath-takers and stood in the presence of the king, crying out and
begging that the king separate his presence from hearing this case lest he be
condemned by the judgement of heaven. He added: I know about the power
of the blessed man Mitrias, because he quickly imposes his vengeance against
someone who invades [his property].Then the judges met and discussed the
case. Childeric stood up, taunted the bishop, and heaped accusations on him.
[He claimed] that the bishop had kept for his own unjust order the
possessions that were owed to the sovereignty of the [royal] treasury, and he
ordered the bishop to be dragged forcibly from the judicial hearing. Once the
bishop was bound, Childeric fined him three hundred gold pieces after the
judgement of those present had removed the villa [from his control].
Everyone agreed with Childeric, and no one dared to vote against his wish
unless he had approved it.
After bishop Franco was sentenced and despoiled, he returned to Aix. He
knelt in prayer before the tomb of St Mitrias, recited the verses of a psalm,
and said: Most glorious saint, no more lights will be lit here, no more
melodies of psalms will be sung, until you first avenge your servants from
their enemies and restore to the holy church the properties that have been
violently taken from you. He wept as he said this. Then he threw briers with
sharp thorns on top of the tomb; after he left, he shut the doors and put other
briers likewise in the entrance. Immediately the man who had invaded [the
church property] was struck with a fever. He lay on his bed, rejected food,
refused to drink, and in his fever continually panted. Even if he occasionally
became thirsty because of the burning of his fever, he drank only water and
nothing else. Why say more? He spent an entire year in this illness, but his
evil mind was not changed. Meanwhile all his hair and his beard fell out, and
his entire head was so naked that you might think he had once been buried
and then recently taken from his tomb after a funeral. After the wretched

52

GLORY OF THE CONFESSORS

man was afflicted with these and other similar misfortunes, he reconsidered
at a late hour and said: I have sinned because I plundered the church of God
and I brought insult upon the holy bishop. Now, however, go as quickly as
possible and, after restoring the villa, place six hundred gold pieces on the
tomb of the saint. For I hope that after the property has been returned he
might grant a cure to a sick man. His men listened to what he said, took the
money, and did as had been commanded of them. They restored the estate
and placed the gold coins on the tomb of the servant of God. But when they
did this, immediately Childeric exhaled his spirit in the place where he was.
Because he had unjustly seized this acquisition, he earned the loss of his
soul. The bishop obtained from this enemy of the church the revenge that he
had predicted would result from the power of the athlete of God.77

71.Bishop Aravatius of Maastricht

Aravatius is said to have been bishop of Maastricht during the time of the
Huns, when they burst out for the invasion of
He is said to have been
buried next to the bridge of the public road. Although snow fell around his
tomb, it never moistened the marble that had been placed on top [of the
tomb]. Even when these regions were gripped in the cold of an excessive
frost and snow covered the ground to a thickness of three or four feet, the
snow never touched his tomb. One might understand that Aravatius was a
true Israelite [cf. John 1:47]. For as the Israelites [passed] between the walls
of water, the water was an indication not of danger but of safety; and the
snow that fell around the tomb of this just man was an occasion not of
moisture but of honor. Around the tomb you might see mountains of snow
heaped high, but they never touch the edge of the tomb. We do not marvel
77 The career and even historicity of Mitrias are uncertain: see the anonymous edition of a
later vita in Anulecta Bollundiunu 8 (1889). 9-15, and Vieillard-Troiekouroff (1976). 29-31.
Franco was bishop of Aix sometime during the reign of king Sigibert from 561 until 575: see
Duchesne (1894-1915), I:272. This Childeric is probably not to be identified with Childeric the
Saxon who served as duke under king Childebert and finally suffocated while intoxicated [HF
VlI.3, VIII.18, X.221: see Dalton (1927), lI:562, and Selle-Hosbach (1974). 72-3, S.V. Chuldericus.
78 Gregory elsewhere described how this Aravatius had once appealed to the tomb of the
apostle (Peter? Paul?) at Rome for assistanceagainst the Huns in the middle of the fifth century;
the apostle replied that the Lord had decided that the Huns were to invade Gaul and that
Aravatius should prepare to die [HF II.51. But Gregorys account of the invasion of the Huns
was not very reliable: see Banniard (1978). In fact, he seems to have invented this Aravatius by
confusing him with Servatius,bishop of Tongres and Maastricht in the mid-fourth century, and
then placed him in the wrong century: see Kurth (1919), I:139-59, and Griffe (1964-1966),
1:210-1, 248-53. Monulf was Servatius successor as bishop of Tongres and Maastricht: see
Duchesne (1894-1915). III:189.

TRANSLATION

53

when the ground is covered with snow, but we do marvel that it did not dare
to touch the spot of the blessed tomb. Many times the devotion and zeal of
believers have constructed an oratory from wood planks that had been
planed smooth; but immediately the planks either are snatched by the wind
or collapse of their own accord. And I believe that this continued to happen
until someone came along who constructed a worthy building in honor of the
glorious bishop. After some time passed Monulf became bishop of Maastricht. He built, arranged, and decorated a huge church in honor of Aravatius.
His body was translated into this church with great zeal and veneration, and
it is now distinguished with great miracles.
72. The cemetery at Autun

In Autun there is a cemetery that the Gallic language calls [?I, because
the bodies of many men have been buried there. The mystery of psalms
being chanted in private is a constant indication that among these [graves]
there are the tombs of certain souls that were faithful and worthy of God. As
they give the thanks that they owe to omnipotent God in the proclamation of
their voices, they have often appeared to many people. For I heard that while
two of the inhabitants of this region were preparing to visit the holy shrines
for prayer, they heard the chanting of psalms in the church of St Stephen that
was next to this cemetery. They admired the sweetness of the melody and
went to the door of the church, thinking that vigils were being celebrated by
some monks. They entered and for a long time knelt in prayer. When they
got up, they saw a chorus of people chanting psalms. They noted that although
there were no lights in the church everything gleamed in its own brightness.
Yet they recognized absolutely none of the people. They were stunned and
struck by astonishment. Then one of the people chanting psalms came to
them and said: You have done an accursed deed when you dare to be present
as we offer the secrets of our prayers to God. Therefore depart and leave
your homes; otherwise you will migrate from this world. One of these two
men departed and left, but the other, who stayed in that place, migrated from
this world after many days.79
79 Celtic probably survived as a spoken language through the sixth century: see Roucbe
(1979). 150-1. But since cimiterium/ coemeterium was a word that Christian Latin had used
for centuries, it cannot be either a Celtic (or Gallic) word or the name of the cemetery that
Kruschs edition seems to indicate that it was. So a lacuna should be indicated in the text: see
Bonnet(1890),25 n.l,Kurth(1919),11:119n.3,andFournier(1955),451.Oncethebody ofSt
Stephen the protomartyr [GM 331 was discovered in Palestine in 415, his relics were gradually
transported to the West: see Clark (1982) and Hunt (1982), 21 1-20.

54

GLORY OF THE CONFESSORS

73.The tomb of bishop Cassianus

In this cemetery I saw the tomb of the blessed Cassianus, a great bishop.
The tomb had been scratched at by many ill people and was thought at that
time to have been almost perforated. I11 people purify themselves with this
dust, and immediately they feel the immensity of his power. Some say that
Simplicius, bishop of Autun, is also buried there. The fierce madness of the
people brought an accusation of adultery against him.*
74. Bishop Reticius
Since it is a pleasure to say something about these saints, the first story
must be about St Reticius because he was the first to die. His parents were
most noble, and he was famous for the excellence of his learning. After
passing through adolescence Reticius acquired a wife who was noted for a
similar reputation of her character. He was joined with her in the embrace of
a spiritual love, not in wantonness. They competed in giving alms, they
celebrated vigils, and without ceasing they performed the work of God.
After many years the woman lay her head on the bed and spoke her final
words for the ears of her blessed husband. She said: Most pious brother, I
pray that after my death and after the passage of time you may be placed in
the tomb in which I am placed. Then the partnership of a single tomb will
hold those whom the love of a single chastity preserved in one marriage bed.
After saying this, she wept and sent her spirit to heaven. But by the choice of
the people Reticius received the episcopacy of Autun. He showed himself to
be so devout that the goodness of his character equaled the grace of the
episcopacy. On the day of his death he had passed through the different
grades of spiritual grace in the full achievementof perfection. After his body
was washed and placed on the funeral bier, the efforts of his servants could
not move it. They were stunned by amazement in their minds. Then they
heard from an old man [who said] that Reticius had sworn to his wife that the
space of one tomb would receive them both. At the end of his statement the
bier was immediately lifted and brought to the tomb. Bishop Reticius
regained his spirit and addressed his wife. He said: Sweetestof wives, recall
what you had requested of me. Now receive the brother you have awaited for
a long time, and unite yourself to his unstained limbs that wantonness has
not defiled but that true chastity has cleansed.As he said this, the tomb was
moved in a marvelous fashion, and the bones of the virgin were gathered in
80 Cassianus was the successor to Reticius [GC 741 and the predecessor of Hegemonius
[GC 741 as bishop of Autun. See GC 75, for the story of this accusation of adultery.

TRANSLATION

55

one place. The blessed bishop was received in the sleep of peace and was
covered by the lid of this tomb. Cassianus, whom I mentioned above, succeeded Reticius as bishop. After him Egemonius took over the throne of this
episcopacy.*

75. Bishop Simplicius

After the death of Egemonius the blessed Simplicius was placed in

charge of this church. Simplicius was descended from a noble ancestry, was
very wealthy in the riches of this world, and was married to a very noble wife.
Although this world concealed [the fact], their completely chaste life was
known to God, even if unknown to men. Both were just and very eager for
distributing alms and enduring vigils. Because of his rank in this world, as I
mentioned, Simplicius was selected by the people [as bishop] after the death
of Egemonius; but he was chosen by God because of the distinction of his
chastity and his holiness. After Simplicius accepted the rank of bishop, his
blessed sister [i.e. wife] who had previously been united to her husband not
by lust but by chastity did not allow herself to be removed from the bishops
bed. Instead she approached the bed of her most chaste husband with as pure
a chastity as before, untroubled in the conscience of her holy mind and
knowing that she could not be aroused with the heat of a lustful fire. But the
raging jealousy of a demon incites disgraceful wars against the saints of
God, and the woman whom he could not destroy by her own impulse he tried
to disgrace with deceitful words. Why say more? On Christmas Day the
citizens were aroused in a scandal and quickly rushed to the blessed virgin.
They said: It is unbelievable that a woman united with a man cannot be
defiled, for a man joined to the limbs of a woman cannot refrain from
intercourse. For so the proverbs of Solomon say: No one, he says, can be
pure after touching tar [Sirach 13:1]. Nor will someone who carries fire in
his breast not be burned. We see you both lying in one bed, and can we
imagine anything else except that you are having intercourse together?The
most holy virgin was provoked by these words and went to the bishop, who
was distinguished with a similar chastity. After repeating the words that she
had heard in front of all the people she summoned a girl who held, as was
customary, a kettle filled with charcoal to ward off the winter. Stretching out
81 Reticius was probably the first bishop of Autun in the early fourth century. He had a
reputation as an author and opposed the Donatists of North Africa: see Griffe (1964-1966).
I: 102, 186-200. A poem composed at Autun shortly before 324 began by praising the chastity
of a married couple and might refer to Reticius and his wife: see de luudibus Domini, ed. PL
6.45-50 = PL 19.379-86 = PL 61.10914, with Barnes (1981), 246.

56

GLORY OF THE CONFESSORS

her cloak, she placed burning coals in it. After holding them for almost one
hour she summoned the bishop and said: Take the fire that is [more] gentle
than usual and that will not harm your garments, so that these flames may
demonstrate that the flames of wantonness have been extinguished in us.
The bishop took the fire, but his garment was not harmed by it. Because of
this miracle the people who were then without faith believed in God, and
within seven days more than a thousand men were reborn by the renewal of
the sacred cleansing [by baptism]. The church received these people and
happily joined itself to the kingdom of heaven through these [new]
soldiers.*

76.The statue of Berecynthia

Some say that there was a statue of Berecynthia in this city [of Autun],
just as the history of the suffering of the martyr St Symphorianus relates. In
accordance with the pitiful custom of pagans the people brought this statue
on a wagon for the preservation of their fields and vineyards. The aforementioned bishop Simplicius was present, and not far away he watched them
singing and dancing before this statue. He groaned to God because of the
silliness of the people and said: Lord, I ask you, illuminate the eyes of these
people so that they may realize that this statue of Berecynthia is nothing. He
made the sign of the cross against [the statue]. Immediately it crashed to the
ground, and the oxen that drew the wagon on which the statue was carried
were fixed to the ground and could not be moved. The huge horde was
stunned, and the entire crowd cried out that the goddess was wounded.
Victims were sacrificed, and although the oxen were beaten, they could not
be moved. Then four hundred men from that silly mass of people gathered
together and said to one another: If there is any power of a deity in the
statue, let it be raised on its own and let it order the oxen who are stuck to the
ground to advance. If it cannot be moved, it is of course obvious that there is
no deity in it. Then they approached and sacrificed one of their cattle. When
they saw that their goddess could not be moved at all, they abandoned the
error of paganism, sought out the bishop of the region, and converted to the

82 This Simplicius was probably bishop of Autun in the mid-fourth century: another
Simplicius, perhaps a descendant of the first, was bishop of Autun at the beginning of the fifth
century: see Duchesne (189&1915), IL174-8, and Heinzelmann (1982). 695-6. In the sixth
century men who were already married were expected upon their ordination as deacons, priests,
or bishops to treat their wives as sistersand live separately [cf. GC 771: see Brennan (1985a).

TRANSLATION

57

unity of the church. They acknowledged the greatness of the true God and
were consecrated by holy baptism.83

77.The bishop upon whose breast a lamb appeared

But since in an earlier chapter I revealed how chastity is an ornament for
those who love God, I recall what I heard [bishop] Felix of Nantes say when
we were talking about these matters. He said that there had been a cleric in
his city who had had a wife; but when this man advanced to the honor of the
episcopacy, in accordance with the requirement of catholic custom he had
set his bed apart. His wife received this separation with great difficulty.
Although every day she argued with him that they might sleep in one bed,
the bishop did not assent to such wicked behavior that the decrees of the
canons did not permit. One day his wife burned with rage and said to herself:
I do not think that the fact that I have been so rebuffed from my husbands
embrace happened without his own complicity. But I will go and see that he
is not perhaps sleeping with any other woman for whose love he has rejected
me. Immediately she went to the bishops chamber and found him taking an
afternoon nap. She approached his bed and saw a lamb of overpowering
brightness lying on his breast. She was terrified with fear and quickly
removed herself from the saints bed. No longer did she continue to ask what
the man who was filled with God was doing in secret. But she knew full well
that what the Lord himself had deigned to promise to his believers was
fulfilled with the servants of God. The Lord said: Behold,I am with you for
all days until the end of this world [Matthew 28:20].84
83 Symphorianus was thought to have been a martyr of the mid-third century, less likely of
the late second century: see Griffe (196&1966), I: 152-3.160. In the middle of the fifth century
Euphronius, a priest (and future bishop) of Autun constructed a church dedicated to St
Symphorianus [HF 11.151; the saints Pussio may also have been written, or rewritten, at the
same time: see Vieillard-Troiekouroff (1976), 44-5. People also celebrated the cult of St
Symphorianus at Tours,where bishop Perpetuus had prescribed vigils before his festival day
[HFX.31], and in villages near Clermont [CM5 I , VJ 301. The cult of Berecynthia that bishop
Simplicius [CC 751 opposed in the middle of the fourth century is not readily identified: see
Fontaine (1967-1969). II:720-37.
84 Felix became bishop of Nantes in 550 and was effective in protecting his city from
pillaging Bretons [HFV.31]. But Gregory did not much like him. In 576 Felix had claimed that
Gregorys brother Peter, a deacon at Langres, had once tried to murder his bishop [HFVS], and
in 580 he had supported a rival of Gregory rHFV.491. When Felix was dying in 582, Gregory
refused to support his designated successor [HFVI.l5]. Gregorys use of Felix as an informant
may perhaps imply that the two had somehow reconciled: see McDermott (1975a), who also
suggests that the unnamed bishop was Victurius of Rennes [HF VIII.32, IX.391.

58

GLORY OF THE CONFESSORS

78. Bishop Remigius of Rheims

Remigius, I note, was bishop of Rheims. Some say that he served seventy
or more years in his episcopacy and that through his prayer he brought it
about that the corpse of a dead girl was revived. He often offered the grace of
cures to ill people, and very often he was an avenger against invaders. Not
far from the church is a field that has fertile soil; the inhabitants call these
[fields] ~lcae.~
This field had been given to the holy church. One of the
citizens scorned the man who had donated this field to the holy shrine and
occupied it. Although this man had been repeatedly dunned by the bishop
and the abbot of the region that he return what he had unjustly occupied, he
disregarded the words that he heard and defended the property he had
plundered with stubborn purpose. Then he had a reason to visit Rheims,
although not out of piety. He hurried to the church of the saint. Again the abbot
denounced him for seizing the field; but he replied with nothing worthy of
rational thinking. When his business was completed, he mounted his horse
and prepared to return home. But the wrong done to the bishop was an
obstacle to his intention. For the man had an apoplectic stroke and fell to the
ground. His tongue that had suggested that the field be taken was bound, his
eyes that had coveted were closed, and his hands that had seized the field
were contracted. The man was stuttering and was barely able to speak a
word; he said: Carry me to the church of the saint and throw on his tomb
however much gold I have. For I have sinned by stealing his property. The
man who had donated the field saw him coming with his gifts and said: Saint
of God, I ask you, do not look at his gifts that you never used to accept. I pray
you, do not assist this man who under the influence of his burning lust was
the wicked possessor of your properties. The saint did not delay in hearing
the voice of the poor man. For although the [other] man presented gifts, upon
returning home he lost his spirit and the church recovered its properties.86
85 The word olca was probably a local usage, not a Celtic word: see Bonnet (1890), 25,
and Fournier (1955), 451-2.
86 Remigius was bishop of Rheims for seventy-four years, from 458/9 until 532/3: see
Heinzelmann (1982), 679. One of his most notable achievements was to preside over the
baptism of Clovis: see Wood (1985). Gregory knew about his life and miracles from a vita [ H F
II.311, which may be the vim wrongly attributed to Fortunatus: ed. B. Krusch, MGH, AA 4.2
(1 885). 64-7. Secular abbots, who were also sometimes clerics, were responsible for the administration of some large churches and their property [cf. GC 791: see. Pietri (1983a).99 Germanus
was bishop of Paris from the middle of the sixth century until his death in 576 [HFV.8]. Since
he visited Tours for a festival of St Martin in 574 [VM 2.121, Gregory had probably met him.
During his lifetime Germanus distinguished himself by confronting Frankish kings [HF N.26,
5 11 and by assisting in the discovery of the tomb of St Ursinus at Bourges [GC 791; as a saint

TRANSLATION

59

But it is proper not to be silent about what happened when the plague of
the groin ravaged the people [of the old Roman province] of First Germany.
When everyone was terrified at hearing of this devastation, the people of
Rheims rushed to the tomb of St Remigius to request a remedy that was appropriate for the situation.After lighting candles and many lamps, they kept watch
for the entire night [while singing] hymns and celestial psalms. At dawn they
searched in a treatise for what was still missing from their request. By the
revelation of God they discovered how, after first praying, they might fortify
the defenses of the city with a still more effective defense. They took the
shroud from the tomb of the blessed Remigius and arranged it in the shape of
a funeral bier. With candleholders and candles burning above the crosses,
they joined voices in chants and journeyed around the city as well as its
villages. Nor did they omit any home that they did not include in their circuit.
Why say more? Not many days later the celebrated plague approached the
edges of the city. It advanced all the way to that spot where the relic of the
blessed Remigius had gone, and whenever it recognized the boundary that
had been set, it did not in any way dare to advance further. Because of the
obstacle of his power the plague even left what it had previously invaded."
79. St Ursinus, bishop of Bourges

Bourges first received the word of salvation from St Ursinus, who was
ordained bishop by disciples of the apostles and selected for Gaul. Ursinus
was the first to establish and govern the church at Bourges.'* After he migrated
after his death he saved prisoners from a fire [HF VIII.331. For his other miracles, Gregory
referred readers [HFV.8] to a vita by Fortunatus: ed. B. Krusch, MGH, AA 4.2 (1885), 11-27,
and again in M G H , SRM 7 (1920). 372418. King Chilperic reigned from 561 until 584 [HF
VI.461. Germanus was buried in a church dedicated to St Vincentius of Saragossa [ G M 891 that
king Childebert had built after bringing back relics of the saint from an expedition into Spain
[HF III.29, IV.201. In consequence, the church later was named after St Germanus as
Saint-Germain des Wes: see Vieillard-Troiekouroff (1976), 21 1-14.
87 First Germany was an old Roman province situated along the middle Rhine. It is not clear
why Gregory mentioned it here, since Rheims was located in the old Roman province of Second
Belgica. Throughout the later sixth century the plague appeared at intervals in western Europe:
see Biraben and Le Goff (1975). In 543 the plague threatened Gaul, perhaps for the first time.
88 By stating that Ursinus had been ordained by disciples of the apostles Gregory seems to
have hinted at traditions that claimed apostolic origins for Gallic churches or that claimed a
pedigree stretching back to Clement, an early bishop of Rome [cf. G M 551: see Griffe (1955)
and Gilliard (1975). But Gregory elsewhere mentioned that one of the disciples of the original
seven missionaries sent to Gaul in the middle of the third century [cf. G C 41 had brought
Christianity to Bourges [ H F 1.311. Although Gregory seems there to have forgotten his name,
this disciple was presumably Ursinus.

60

GLORY OF THE CONFESSORS

from this world, he was placed in a tomb in a field among the tombs of other
people. For the people still did not understand how to venerate bishops of
God and how to show the respect that was owed them. Hence it happened
that as the dirt filled in, a vineyard was planted on top and buried all memory
of the first bishop of the city. Until the time when Probianus was selected as
bishop of the city, no one spoke of Ursinus. There was a man named Agustus
who was a member of the household of Desideratus who had once been
bishop [of Bourges]. Agustus hands and feet were so contracted that
whenever he wished to progress or go somewhere, he dragged himself in no
other way than on his knees and elbows. At the direction of God he built
from the alms of the pious an oratory in honor of the most blessed bishop St
Martin in the village of Brives. When Agustus placed relics of Martin in the
oratory, immediately his limbs were straightened and he was cured. Then he
gathered a few monks with himself, lived according to the rule of a monastery, and was always occupied in prayer.
Hence it happened that subsequently Agustus was summoned by bishop
Probianus and ordained as abbot for the church of St Symphorianus that the
aforementionedbishop had built in sight of the wall of Bourges. But Agustus
did not leave the monks whom he had previously gathered; by appointing a
prior for them he himself governed both communities. While he was staying
at this church, St Ursinus appeared to him in a vision during the night and
said: Dig in the ground and look for my body. For I am Ursinus, the first
bishop of this city. Agustus said: Where will I go and where will I look for
your tomb, when I do not know the spot where you have been placed?
Ursinus took his hand, led him to the spot, and said: My body will be
beneath the roots of these vines. The abbot awoke and told this vision to his
bishop; but Probianus dismissed what the priest said and showed no interest
in the search. Then the blessed Germanus, bishop of Paris, came and was
received by bishop Probianus. After a meal in the church house he went to
sleep. In a vision Ursinus appeared to both of them, that is, simultaneously
to both bishop Germanus and abbot Agustus, and he brought them to the
spot of his tomb and begged that they take him from that place. They awoke
and went to vigils together in the church of St Symphorianus. At the
conclusion of the office of matins, bishop Gemanus told abbot Agustus
what he had seen, and Agustus acknowledged that he had had a similar
vision. The next night they went there with only one cleric who was carrying
a candle, and they came to the designated spot. As they dug deep down, they
found the tomb. Once they uncovered it and removed its lid, they saw that
the holy body was not touched by any decay, as if [it were the body] of a man

TRANSLATION

61

asleep. They admired the body and then replaced the lid. When day came,
they told bishop Probianus what they had seen. They assembled the abbots
and the clergy and while psalms were being chanted raised the blessed tomb
with honor. But because the levers by which the tomb was being carried
were too long, when they came to the porch the levers could not be tilted at
its entrance in order to approach the door of the church easily. Then the
blessed Germanus raised his voice and said: Holy bishop of God, if it is
your will to enter this church, let us witness your uplifting assistance.
Immediately the weight of the sarcophagus vanished and it became so light
that the men dropped their levers and a few of them lifted with their hands
what many had brought to that spot. So, after the celebration of mass
Ursinus was buried next to the altar, while the people rejoiced. Thereafter he
revealed himself in many miracles.89

80. The recluse Marianus

Within this territory [of Bourges] there was a hermit named Marianus.
He had no other food except the fruits of the fields. If sometimes people brought
honey to him, or if he could find [something] in the woods, this was his food.
Although Marianus was often visited by many people, once he could not be
found by those looking for him. The men who came to search for him noticed
a footprint and found a spot where he had knelt and drunk water from a river.
Advancing further, they found him dead, lying beneath an apple tree. Hence
it was widely circulated among the people that he had slipped from the tree
and exhaled his spirit; but it was not known for certain, because no one had
been an eyewitness. The men who had come lifted [his body] and brought it
to the village of Evaux.After washing the body and dressing it in worthy garments
the people buried it in a church. Each year they celebrated the festival commemorating his death; people gathered and often were healed from their
89 Desideratus was bishop of Bourges in the middle of the sixth century; his successor
Probianus was bishop during the 550s and 560s: see Duchesne (1894-1915). II:28, and
Mathisen (1987). 453. Probianus initial dismissal of these claims about St Ursinus may be an
indication of a rivalry with Desideratus and his family, with which Agustus (or Augustus) was
associated. The precise location of the oratory that Agustus built is uncertain: see
Vieillard-Troiekouroff (1976).62-3. Germanus was bishop of Paris from the middle of the sixth
century until 576 [GC 881. He was a native of Autun and had been an abbot at a monastery
dedicated to St Symphorianus before becoming bishop: see Fortunatus, Wtu G e m n i 1.9, ed. B.
Krusch, MGH, AA 4.2 (1885), 11-12, So it was perhaps predictable that he would eventually
visit this church dedicated to St Symphorianus, who had been a martyr at Autun [GM 5 1, GC 761.
90 Late traditions placed the death of Marianus in the early sixth century: see
Vieillard-Troiekouroff (1976). 120.

62

GLORY OF THE CONFESSORS

One man from the vicinity lit a fire over branches he had placed together
and, in order to make beer, prepared to brew the grain that had been soaked
in water for a long time and that was swollen from the sprouting buds. One
of his neighbors came and said: 0man, why are you occupied in this task?
Do you not know that it is thefestival of the blessed Marianus? The man
angrily replied: 0you who say this, do you think that a man who slipped
from a tree while satisfying his appetite has been included in the company of
angels, so that he ought to be venerated as a saint? It is better to do what is
necessary at home than to honor such a saint. The other man listened and
then left, and with the other people he went to the church of St Marianus; his
neighbor remained at home working at his task. As a wind blew up, his
house was immediately seized by the fire and completely burned down, and
nothing of the mans possessions remained. Although balls of fire were
lifted over othershouses that were situated nearby, the flames burned [only]
this mans threshing-floor, his fences, the sheds for his pigs and animals, and
whatever else belonged to him. Nothing remained for this wretched man that
had not been burned by the fire. If someone thinks that this happened by
chance, let him wonder that the fire harmed none of the surrounding
neighbourhoods. What do you do now, o coarse rusticity? Because you
always murmur against God and his friends, you receive catastrophe upon
yourself.
The evilness of a thief stole the oxen of another man. This man followed
their tracks but then lost them on the paths of the roads that were soaked with
water and in the deep mudholes. So he rushed to the tomb of St Marianus
and offered a prayer. When he left the church, he saw a man traveling on the
public highway who was escorting and driving before himself the oxen,
along with a horse that was worn out from the journey. He had been
bewildered by the road, and as if having become a madman, because of his
confused mind he returned to that region that he had left. The other man
recognized the oxen that he had lost and took them back; he allowed the thief
to leave without making an accusation, because he realized that this had
been provided for him by the power of St Marianus. For he had found what
he had lost at the hour when, filled with faith, he had approached his tomb.
After these events happened, the people of Bourges began to honor this
confessor of God with more diligent concern.

81. The recluse Eusicius

Eusicius was another man with power who lived in this territory [of
Bourges]. Just like a hermit he had secluded himself from intimacy with

TRANSLATION

63

men among thick brambles, and he rejected gold and the riches of this world
as if they were manure. Although various people visited him because of their
different illnesses, often infants whose throats were swollen were brought to
him. With the gentlest of touches he felt them, and as if amused by a spiritual
joke he always said: This throat that does not permit swallowing is
deservedly racked by pains. He then made the sign of the cross in the name
of the Trinity and freed these sore throats from their pains and swellings. He
was of such immediate benefit for people suffering from quartan fevers that
he immediately restored them to health simply by offering water that he had
blessed for drinking.
His [fellow] monks had two hives of bees. When a man from his vicinity
was troubled by the burning of a quartan fever, he went to Eusicius, received
from him the usual medicine, and was restored to health. As he wished to
return home, he noticed these hives in a tree at a distance. Immediately his
greed, which is described as the root of all evils [cf. I Timothy 6:10], was
aroused, and he decided to steal these hives in secret. He found an accomplice [with a character] similar to himself, and at night he looked for the tree.
After he climbed the tree to take the hives and hand them to his companion,
behold, the old man [Eusicius] came from another direction! When he saw
the old man, the man who was on the ground looked to flee but did not tell
his companion what to beware of. The old man stood beneath the tree and
took in turn the one beehive that the thief handed down. When he wished to
steal the other also, the monk said: Son, let this one be sufficient for now;
leave the other for the man who has worked on it. The thief was terrified by
this voice and jumped down. But the old man caught him, brought him to his
cell, and said: Son, why do you follow the devil as your guide? Did you not
come to me yesterday and receive the blessing of the Lord? If you were
pleased with the honey, you might have come to me and I would have given
enough for you to have a supply, without any criticism and without your
inconvenience.After admonishing him then with many other words, Eusicius
gave him a honeycomb and allowed him to leave unharmed; he said: Take
care lest you repeat [this deed], because theft is payment to Satan.
On his way to Spain [king] Childebert came to this old man. When he
offered him fifty gold pieces, the old man said: Why do you offer these to
me? Give them to those who might distribute them to the poor; I have no
need of them. For me it is sufficient that I am worthy to pray to the Lord for
my sins. And Eusicius added: Go, you will obtain a victory and you will
accomplish what you wish. Then the king donated the gold to the poor and
vowed that if the Lord through his grace led him back from his expedition,

64

GLORY OF THE CONFESSORS

he would build in that place a church in honor of God in which the body of
the old man might be buried. Afterwards he fulfilled this VOW.^'
82. Bishop Maximus of Riez
The confessor Maximus was bishop of Riez and often revealed himself to
the inhabitants through many miracles.92Not only are the blind illuminated
at his tomb, but other types of illnesses are also driven away by his miracles.
I will relate an event that I recently heard about. There was a little boy, about
three years old, who still sucked his mothers breasts. This boy was afflicted
by a fever, and while he was being carried in his mothers hands he was so
weakened that he was unable to take her breast or any other food. The boy
was very ill for three days and was held in the arms of those who loved him.
Then one of the servants said: If only this little boy might be brought to the
tomb of the blessed Maximus. Because of his merits we believe that he can
restore the boy to his original health. While the boy was being carried on the
hands of those who loved him, he gasped and exhaled his spirit. When his
parents recognized this, they wept and shouted and threw the boy in front of
the tomb of the blessed confessor Maximus. After the doors were closed,
they left the lifeless body. The night was spent in mourning. When the next
day returned and brought light to the world, the doors of the sacred church
were unlocked and they saw that the infant boy had raised himself and was
pulling himself along the railing of the tomb as he tried to walk. For he was
not yet old enough that he could walk properly. His parents marveled at the
sight and were happy; his grieving mother joyfully took him and returned
home with him in good health. I saw the boy after he had grown up, and he
told this story to me.

83. Bishop Valerius

The blessed confessor Valerius, the first bishop of Saint-Lizier, revealed
himself in this way. Earlier an oratory had been constructed over his tomb,
91 King Childebert led one expedition into Spain in 531 [HFIII.lO] and another with king
Chlothar in c.541 [HFIII.29]. He built this church probably at Selles-sur-Cher. where Eusicius
had already founded his monastic retreat: see Vieillard-Troiekouroff (1976), 286-7.
92 Maximus had been abbot at LCrins before serving as bishop of Riez from c.434 until
c.460: see Griffe (1964-1966). II:260-2. A sermon about St Maximus has been attributed to
Faustus, bishop of Riez in the later fifth century: ed. PL Suppl. 3.633-40, and, as Eusebius
Gallicanus, Homilia XXXV (34), ed. Fr. Glorie, CChrL 101 (1970). 401-12. Dynamius, a
contemporary of Gregory [HF VI.7, 1 1 , IX.111, also composed a Vita of Maximus: ed. PL
80.33-40, with Stroheker (1948), no. 108.

TRANSLATION

65

but as it decayed because of neglect the place of his burial was forgotten.
The inhabitants remembered only that he had been buried in front of a holy
altar. Bishop Theodorus then came and built a great church by expanding the
oratory in a larger space. As he was looking for the holy body of the venerated man he found two tombs, but he did not know which of the two
belonged to the bishop. He gathered the clergy, celebrated vigils for the
entire night, and prayed that the blessed confessor would reveal to him
where he lay. He filled two jars with wine and placed one on each tomb; he
said: It is obvious that the tomb of bishop Valerius is the one in whose liar]
the Falernian wine is increased. At daybreak he left the church, had the
doors secured with seals, and gave his limbs to sleep. At the third hour he got
up, went to the holy church with the clergy and the people, and opened the
doors. He found that one jar had very little wine, but that the other so
overflowed from its open mouth that it spilled over the entire monument of
the blessed bishop. In this way bishop Theodorus learned which was the
tomb of bishop Valerius. But because he still wished to know more certainly,
he uncovered the monument, removed the lid, and found the venerable body
completely intact. No hair had fallen from it, the beard was not spotted, and
no deterioration or decay was seen on the skin. Everything was untouched,
as if it had been recently buried, and such a sweet fragrance reeked from the
tomb that there was no doubt that a friend of God was buried there. Valerius
had a cushion of laurel leaves beneath him; bishop Theodorus took some
leaves and offered them as medicine to many ill people. He also took relics
from his garments. After the tomb was again closed, he honored the venerable bishop. In the future he recognized many miracles [performed]by these
relics.93
84. Bishop Silvester of Chalon-sur-SaBne
The most blessed Silvester governed the church at Chalon-sur-SaBne.
After serving in the episcopacy for forty-two years, he was full of days and
powers and he migrated to the Lord.94He had a bed that was woven from
slender ropes. When ill people who were tormented by quartan fevers or by
93 Valerius is otherwise unknown; Theodorus was bishop in the mid-sixth century: see
Duchesne (189&1915), II:99, and Vieillard-Troiekouroff (1976). 261-2.
94 Silvester had been bishop of Chalon-surSaBne during the late fifth and early sixth
centuries: see Duchesne (1894-1915). II:193. Although Silvesters bed was moved into the
cathedral at Chalon-sur-Sabnethat bishop Agricola constructed [HF V.45, GC 851, his body
was buried in a church dedicated to St Marcellus at Saint-Marcel-Its-Chalon [GM 521: see
Vieillard-Troiekouroff (1 976), 264-5.

GLORY OF THE CONFESSORS

different fevers were placed beneath this bed once and then a second time,
immediately they were cured by the power granted by God. As a result this
bed was moved into the sanctuary of the cathedral, where it glowed with the
same power. As I saw with my own eyes, many people cut off tiny pieces of
that rope and carried them far away; when these pieces are placed on ill
people, the people observe that the blessing of health is present. My mother
cut a small piece from this rope and hung it from the neck of a girl who was
feverish with chills; immediately the illness was checked and my mother
saw that the girl was healthy.
85. The recluse Desideratus in the same territory

Desideratus was a priest at this city [of Chalon-sur-SaGne]. I saw him in

the monastery at Gourdon. He was a man distinguished for his holiness, and
with his prayers he often put an end to the chills of people suffering from
toothaches and other illnesses. He was not a total recluse; that is, although he
did not leave his cell, whoever wished saw him in his cell. As I said, he was
noted for his outstanding miracles and was conspicuous in this world. When
the blessed bishop Agricola [of Chalon-sur-SaBne] heard of his death, he
sent his archdeacon to bring the blessed man to a cemetery in the city; but
because the monks resisted, the archdeacon did not accomplish what he had
been ordered. Later the bishop built a hospital for lepers in a suburb [of the
city], and having gathered the abbots and the entire clergy in its church, he
transferred the blessed body and with great respect buried it in the church
mentioned above.95Desideratus reveals through his great miracles that he
now lives with
95 Desideratus died during the episcopacy of Agricola, who served as bishop of
Chalon-sur-Sa8nefrom 532 until 580 [HFV.45]. In 549 Agricola attended a council at Orl6ans.
Canon 15 of that council praised the hospital that king Childebert had founded at Lyon, and
canon 21 urged bishops to care for the lepers in their own communities: ed. C. de Clercq,
CChrL 148A (1963) 153, 156. This hospital at Chalon-sur-Sa8ne was perhaps Agricolas
response to this councils recommendation.
96 At this point one ninth-century manuscript inserted a chapter about Johannes, an abbot
who died in the middle of the sixth century. Abbot Johannes lived in the district of Tonnerre, in
the diocese of Langres. He was a man noted for his holiness and, in accordance with the
etymology of his name, heralded by divine grace.When he wished to build the monastery called
Moutiers-Saint-Jean, it is said that the brothers greatly suffered from a lack of water. Johannes
found a deep well of great size in which a poisonous serpentine cobra lived. Once he invoked
the Lord, the serpent was killed and the well cleansed. When the well [water] was fit for
drinking, Johannes gave it to the brothers. As I was traveling to Lyon [or perhaps to Laon], I was
graciously received by the brothers of the monastery and drank some of this water because of its

TRANSLATION

67

86. Abbot Sequanus

Sequanus, an abbot in the territory of Langres, was a man of great power.
While alive he often freed men from the bond of diabolical obligation; after
his death, through his own merits at his tomb he allowed men who were
bound by the chain of a prison to depart as free men. King Guntramn lost a
horn that had been taken in theft. With the sound of this horn he had been
accustomed to collect his Molossian hounds or to scatter herds of antlered
[deer] in the forest. This theft [made him] throw many men into chains and
deprive some men of their possessions. Three of these men sought the shrine
of the aforementioned confessor. When king Guntramn learned of this, he
ordered the men to be bound in chains and fetters. This was done. In the
middle of the night a light that was brighter than a human light appeared in
the church. The bolts of the iron fetters on their feet broke, the links of the
chains were shattered, and the captives were released. The king was terrified
when he heard of this, and he quickly endowed them with the power of a free
choice.97
87. Bishop Marcellus of Paris

Bishop Marcellus of Paris once expelled a huge serpent from his city, as
is read in his vita.He is now buried in a village [in the territory] of this city.
The priest Ragnimodus, who is now bishop of Paris, went to Marcellus

miraculous power; for many people suffering from chills are cured by drinking this water. This
[following] miracle is also told about the aforementioned man [Johannes]. A man who had
murdered his brother was bound in iron chains because of the enormity of his crime. He was
ordered to make a pilgrimage and visit the shrines of the saints for seven years. When he had
arrived at Rome, he learned from a divine revelation that he could not be forgiven until he had
journeyed to the relics of the holy body of Johannes, abbot of Moutiers-Saint-Jean. He visited
shrines here and there and finally came to the church where the most holy body of Johannes was
placed [not] far from his monastery. After he lay there, praying and keeping vigils, he was freed
from all his bonds. Johannes was a just and religious man, and like Moses the lawgiver he lived
for one hundred and twenty years. His eyes never dimmed and his teeth never fell out. He was
a teacher of that notable man [Sequanus], concerning whom I will speak below [in GC 861.
Krusch (1885), 803, argued that the chapter was an interpolation derived from later accounts. A
vita of Johannes survives, composed by Jonas during the seventh century: ed. B. Krusch, MGH,
SRM 3 (1896). 505-17, with Wood (1981). According to this vita,Johannes father was Hilarius,
who might be Hilarius of Dijon [GC 411: see Heinzelmann (1982), 629-30, and VieillardTroiekouroff (1976), 178-9.
97 King Guntramn reigned from 561 until 592; Sequanus died sometime before or during
his reign. His monastery and this church were located at Saint-Seine-lAbbaye: see
Vieillard-Troiekouroff (1976). 274-5.

GLORY OF THE CONFESSORS

tomb with a quartan fever. He knelt and for an entire day was occupied in
fasting and praying; when evening came, he slept. A short while later he
awoke from his sleep and rose from the tomb as a healthy

88. Bishop Germanus of the same city [of Paris]

King Chilperic visited Paris. On the day after the king entered the city a
paralyzed man who was sitting in the colonnade of the church of St
Vincentius, in which the body of the blessed Germanus is buried, was cured.
At daybreak, while the people watched, he gave thanks to the blessed bishop
[Germanus]. For often the mobility of paralyzed people and the sight of the
blind are restored by the power of the saint there [at his tomb]. Rarely is
there one of his festivals during which his power is not revealed there.w

89. The nun Genovefa

St Genovefa is also buried there in the church of the holy apostles.'00
While alive in her body she was so distinguished for her power that she
raised a dead man. Petitions delivered at her tomb often receive a favorable
98 If a truly historical figure, Marcellus may have served as bishop of Paris at the end of the
fourth century: see Griffe (1964-1966), 1305. Gregory probably learned of this story about
Marcellus and the dragon from Fortunatus, vita Marcelli 40-8, ed. B. Krusch, MGH, AA 4.2
(1885). 5 3 4 . Since Fortunatus had dedicated this vita to bishop Germanus of Paris, he had
completed it by 576, when Ragnimcdus succeeded Germanus as bishop [GC 881. For later
folklore about Marcellus and the dragon, see Le Goff (1980a).
99 Germanus was bishop of Paris from the middle of the sixth century until his death in 576
[HF V.81. Since he visited Tours for a festival of St Martin in 574 [VM2.121, Gregory had
probably met him. During his lifetime Germanus distinguished himself by confronting
Frankish kings [HF IV.26, 511 and by assisting in the discovery of the tomb of St Ursinus at
Bourges [GC 791; as a saint after his death he saved prisoners from a fire [HFVIlI.33]. For his
other miracles, Gregory referred readers [HFV.8] to a vita by Fortunatus: ed. B. Krusch, MGH,
AA 4.2 (1885), 11-27, and again in MGH, SRM 7 (1920), 372418. King Chilperic reigned
from 561 until 584 [HFVL46]. Germanus was buried in a church dedicated to St Vmcentius of
Saragossa [GM 891 that king Childebert had built after bringing back relics of the saint from an
expedition into Spain [HF III.29, IV.201. In consequence, the church later was named after St
Germanus as Saint-Germain des Prbs: see Vieillard-Troiekouroff(1976). 21 1-14.
100 Genovefa (now Genevibve) lived near Paris during the mid- and later fifth century. A
vita still survives: ed. B. Krusch, MGH, S R M 3 (1896). 215-38. Although Krusch dated the
composition of this vita to the later eighth century, Kurth (1919), II: 1-96, properly reassigned
it to the early sixth century; Heinzelmann and Poulin (1986) now provide a superb commentary
on the life and vita of Genovefa. The church in which she was buried was built by king Clovis
and his queen Clotild, who were also buried in it [HF II.43, IV. 11. Although Gregory referred to
it as both the church of the holy apostles and the church of St Peter, it may also have been
originally dedicated to St Genovefa: see Vieillard-Troiekouroff(1976), 206-8.

TRANSLATION

69

decision. The fevers of people suffering from chills very often are extinguished by her power.
90. The tomb of the blessed Lusor
The blessed Lusor is buried in DCols, a village in the territory of Bourges.
He was the son of Leucadius, [who was] once a senator, and he is said to
have migrated from this world [while dressed] in the white robe [of someone
recently baptized]. His tomb was placed in a crypt on top of the pavement
and had wonderful sculptures [made] from Parian marble. It happened that
once St Germanus, bishop of Paris, was celebrating vigils at this tomb. He
had at hand a bench on which he bent his knees when necessary. Then it
happened that during one night of the vigils, while they were chanting the
psalms from the text of David, some clerics were fatigued from the effort of
standing. By bending the joints of their elbows they propped themselves on
the tomb of the saint, as if for some alleviation. Instantly the tomb of the
blessed confessor shook, and by its immediate vibration it indicated that an
insult was being committed against itself. Bishop Germanus was terrified
with fear and ordered the dozing men to be removed from the top [of the
tomb]. He said: '0 lazy men, stand back from the tomb lest the saint of God
be annoyed.' Once the men were removed, they no longer felt this vibration.
It is not proper to pass over this event. The same blessed Lusor appeared
to a poor man in a vision and ordered him to cleanse the small room in
which, some say, an infant had burst out crying. After being warned a second
time the poor man still put off doing what he had been warned. Lusor
appeared to him a third time and said: 'If you do what I command, you will
receive one small gold piece for the service of your obedience.' Then the
poor man got up and swept the room with a broom. After washing it with
water and sprinkling it with herbs, he stood in anticipation, not seeing the
recompense that had been promised until by the will of God he saw the gold
coin gleaming on the pavement. He picked it up and left in happiness.'"
101 Lusor is otherwise unknown. His father Leucadius (or Leocadius) was thought to have
welcomed Christianity to Bourges in the later third century and to have turned his house into a
church [HFI.31]. The crypt and the small room may perhaps both be identified with an oratory
beneath a church: see Vieillard-Troiekouroff (1976), 108-9, who also includes photographs of
the sarcophagi of Leocadius and Lusor that still survive. Leocadius was said to have been a
member of the family of Vectius Epagatus (or Vettius Epagathus), who had been a martyr at
Lyon in 177 [GM 481. Gregory's paternal grandmother was named Leucadia (or Leocadia) and
also claimed descent from Vettius Epagathus [VP 6.11; so his remarks about Lusor and
Leocadius were perhaps derived from family traditions. Bishop Germanus of Paris perhaps
visited Lusor's tomb at Ddols when he visited Bourges [GC 791.

70

GLORY OF THE CONFESSORS

91. Bishop Maximinus of Trier

[Buried] in a suburb of Trier, St Maximinus is an effective advocate with

God on behalf of the people of the city. Glorious miracles are often witnessed at his tomb. During the reign of king Theudebert a priest named
Arboast disputed with a Frank in the presence of the king. While the argument went on, the king visited the citys shrines for prayer. The shrines were
in the villages of Trier. When the king saw that the priests accusation was
cunning, he turned to him and said: If your accusations are true, confirm
them with an oath on the tomb of bishop Maximinus!The priest said: I dare
to fulfill this command that you order. Immediately he placed his hand on
the holy tomb and said: May I be struck down by the power of the saint if I
say anything false about those affairs that my accusation has alleged against
this Frank. The barbarian complained and was almost angry with the saint
of God. Then they left the church. As they were walking together on the road,
suddenly the priest stumbled, fell to the ground, and died. Then the barbarian praised the power of St Maximinus, whom he had previously criticized.
Likewise the archdeacon of Trier, after he was attacked with an
accusation of adultery by bishop Nicetius, sought to clear himself with an
oath at the tomb of St Maximinus. He first entered the doar of the crypt and
stood still like a stunned man; then he went down the steps and came to
another door. But when he wished to approach the third door, immediately
he was struck with a fever and did not dare to walk any further. Placed in
danger of dying, he confessed the crime of which he was accused and
begged the people that they request assistance for him either from the holy
bishop [St Maximinus] or from their own bishop [Nicetius]. But as soon as
he confessed he was immediately rescued from the attack of the fever and
restored to the love of his bishop.m
92. Bishop Nicetius of the same city [of Trier]
Nicetius was bishop of this city, as I said above. While he lived in his

body he was distinguished by the merit of his almsgiving, his love, and his
complete holiness. After he migrated from this world he was buried in the
102 Maximinus was bishop at Trier during the first half of the fourth century [HF 1.371.
After bishop Athanasius of Alexandria stayed in Trier during various exiles, bishop Maximinus
became a firm supporterof both him and his theology: see Griffe (19641966). I:203-11. A Vifa
of Maximinus survives, composed during the ninth century but perhaps based on an
eighth-century version: ed. B. Krusch, MGH, SRM 3 (1896). 74-82. During the sixth century
oaths became a common means for both Romans and barbarians to clear themselves of
accusations:see James (1983) and Wood (1986), 14-18, for discussion and further references.

TRANSLATION

71

church of St Maximinus, his predecessor [as bishop]. Now the chains of men
in bonds are broken at his tomb, people suffering from the possession of an
attack by demons are freed after the demons have been expelled, and the
eyes of the blind are often flooded with light after the darkness has been
removed. What will I say about perjuries? If anyone dared to swear a false
oath there, immediately he was corrected by divine retribution. Nor does
anyone dare to say either these things or that he intends to resolve a suit
there, if because of his tormented conscience he knows that he is guilty.lo3
93. Bishop Medard of Soissons
The glorious confessor Medard is buried in Soissons. I have seen the
fetters of wretched men often broken at his tomb. After a book about his
miracles was written, a woman with crippled hands piously sought the
assistance of the blessed bishop. With the other people she celebrated vigils
with a pure faith. She was confident that her hands that were afflicted with
swelling could be cured by the power of Medard who had released the
chains of wretched men by the might of his power. It happened that while
mass was being celebrated the withered bands of her nerves were loosened;
she gave thanks to the confessor, approached the holy altar, and in good
health received the grace of a blessing.Iw
Before the church was built there was over the tomb of St Medard a
chapel constructed from small branches. Because this chapel was removed
after the dedication of the church, it is proper that I record a great event
regarding a small piece of wood [from these branches]. For often the pointed
toothpicks that were quickly made from this wood have brought relief to
toothaches. Charimeris, who is now the referendary of king Chi1debert,'O5
103 On the basis of information from his friend Aredius, whom Nicetius had taught and
ordained [HF X.29, GC 91, Gregory composed a vita of Nicetius [VP 17 praef.]. Nicetius was
bishop of Trier from 5251526 until his death in the later 560s. During his episcopacy he feuded
with several Frankish kings; with the assistance of St Maximinus he also once saved Trier from
the plague [VP 17.41: see Gauthier (1980). 172-89.
104 Medard was bishop of Soissons for fifteen years in the middle of the sixth century: see
Heinzelmann (1982), 651. After his death, both king Chlothar (who died in 561) and his son
Sigibert promoted Medard's cult by constructing a church in his honor at Soissons [HFIV.19];
eventually they were themselves both buried in it [HF IV.21, 511. Since Gregory owned the
saint's staff, perhaps he had also placed relics of St Medard in the church in a village near Tours
[VP 19.21: see Vieillard-Troiekouroff (1976). 119-20. A vita of Medard survives: ed. B.
Krusch, MGH, AA 4.2 (1885). 67-73; although wrongly attributed to Fortunatus, it was
composed before the death of king Theudebert I1 in 612.
105 Although it was common for referendurii (royal secretaries) eventually to become

72

GLORY OF THE CONFESSORS

was suffering from a toothache. When he heard about these toothpicks, he

went to the church of St Medard to obtain [a piece of] the wood, so that he
might deserve to receive medicine from the power of the saint. Upon his
arrival he found the door closed. Because he was confident that the power of
the blessed man was present everywhere, he took out his knife and cut off a
sliver of wood from the door. As soon as it touched his teeth the aching pain
vanished. I myself have the staff of Medard, from which ill people have
often found medicine.
94. Bishop Albinus of Angers

Recently the priest Fortunatus wrote a book about the life of the confessor
Albinus, who through the gift of his merit demonstrates that miracles are
revealed at his tomb. The day of his festival had come. A paralyzed man who
was lame in all his limbs was carried on a wagon and sat before the glass
[windows] in the apse where the holy limbs were buried. He fell asleep and
saw a man who came to him and said to him: How long do you sleep? Do
you not wish to be cured? The paralyzed man said: If only I might deserve
to be cured! The man said to him: When you hear the bell sounding for
prayers at the third hour, immediately rise and enter the church to which you
have come. For at that hour it will happen that the blessed Martin will enter
the church with his companion Albinus so that after offering a prayer he
should go to his festival at Tours. If you are present at that moment, you will
be cured. The man did not hesitate and approached the tomb of St Albinus
when the bell sounded.As the clerics began to chant the Laudatio of a psalm
by David, a sweet fragrance filled the church of St Albinus. After his feet
were straightened, the man stood up with his health. The region nourished
[by the saint] testifies that many people, not just a few, witnessed this. So
also a woman from the village of Cdi who was blind from birth invoked the
name of St Albinus and received her sight on that day [of his f e ~ tiv a l] . ~
bishops, Gregory preferred that lesser clerics be promoted as bishops [HF VI.461. In 588
Charimeris became bishop of Verdun [HF IX.231: see Selle-Hosbach (1974), 34-5,68.
106 Albinus served as bishop of Angers for about twenty years before his death in c.550.
His body was buried in this church at Angers only until the later 550s. when bishop Eutropius,
his successor, moved it to the church of St Germanus at Auxerre [GC 401: see Fortunatus, vita
Albini 54-6, ed. B.Krusch, MGH, AA 4.2 (1885), 32, withvieillard-Troiekouroff(1976) 34-5.
Fortunatus had dedicated this Wra to bishop Domitianus of Angers, who had died by 572: see
Krusch (1885), 808 n.4. Although he had therefore written the Wra years before Gregory seems
to have written, or rewritten, most of his GC in the later 580s. Gregory still claimed that
Fortunatushad recentlycomposed this Wra; so perhaps Gregory here included in his GC some
notes he had made earlier, but without adequately revising them.

TRANSLATION

73

95. The confessor Hospitius

Hospitius was a great servant of God in the region of Nice. After being
distinguished by many miracles he migrated from this w0r1d.l~While he
was being buried, a man put his hand on the tomb and scratched up a bit of
dust that he wrapped in a rough linen cloth and carried with him. As he
intended to set out the next day he found in port a ship that was prepared to
go to Marseilles; but this man wished to visit the monastery of LCrins. The
men who owned the ship were descended from the race of Jews. For this
reason the man did not wish to indicate to the ship-owners what he was
carrying. After they had advanced and come near the monastery at LCrins,
the ship stopped in the middle of the sea and did not move in any direction,
even though the winds were blowing. Since the Jews were confounded at
what this was, the man revealed the truth and said: I have with me relics of
the blessed Hospitius, and now I wish to visit LCrins. I was afraid to tell you
this. Now however I know that your ship is being held by his power. It cannot
move forward from here until you agree [to go] there where I intended to go.
Once the Jews heard this, they were aroused from their amazement and
changed the sails. After they left the man on the island of LCrins, a favorable
wind blew and they departed without hindrance to wherever they wished.
96. The hermit whose pot was made of wood
Behold what kind of wealth, and behold how much of the wealth of this
world poverty gathers for his [saints], so that not only does the Redeemer
who created everything from nothing give them what they wish, but he also
orders the very elements [of nature] to be obedient to them. For I recall a
story I heard years ago. In the wilderness of some region there was a man
who received with the full love of his soul the brother who came from the
neighborhood in ready devotion to look for him. Then they entered a tiny
cottage, offered a prayer, and sat down. After they talked at length about the
word of God, the old man arose from his seat, entered his garden, and
collected some vegetables as food. After lighting the fireplace he put a
107 The ascetic Hospitius (or Hospicius) died in 581. Elsewhere Gregory described his life
and the miracles he performed while alive [HFVI.6]. Hospitius dressed in a hair shirt, wrapped
chains around his body, ate only bread, dates, and roots, and lived in a tower near Nice;
Lombards invading the region [cf. HF IV.441 understandably mistook him for an imprisoned
murderer.After the saint healed one deaf and mute man, a companion announced that Hospitius
was comparable to the famous saints of Rome. Upon his death, the worms that had previously
infested his body left. Gregory heard these stories from this formerly deaf and mute man; he
also mentioned that he had heard about a Era of Hospitius composed by many writers.

74

GLORY OF THE CONFESSORS

wooden pot over the fire, filled it with water and the vegetables, and stoked
the fire. He made the pot so boiling hot that it was thought to be made of
bronze. The man who was visiting watched this, until aroused from his
amazement he asked what this was. The old man replied: I have already
lived in this wilderness for many years, but at the command of God I have
always prepared food for refreshing my frail body in this pot. When the
food was cooked, they sang the hymns that were owed to God and both were
refreshed by the service of this pot. This is the story I once heard. Recently
I met an abbot who named the old man as Ingenuus and claimed that he
himself lived within the territory of Autun and that often he had shared with
the old man either a vegetable or a herb that had been cooked in this pot. He
insisted with an oath that he had seen this pot become very hot after it was
placed over the flames and that the bottom of the pot always remained so
moist that it was thought to be continually dampened by someone.

97. The confessor Avitus of OrlCans

Avitus was an abbot in a district of Chartres that people call Le Perche.
Through the revelation of the Holy Spirit he often predicted the destruction
of his body. When he departed from his body, he was buried with honor in
OrlCans. The faithful Christians built a church over his tomb. After his death
the day commemoratingthe anniversary of his ascension was venerated with
great honor. When the others went to the solemn celebration of mass one of
the citizens took a hoe and went to trench his vineyard. Although many
complained about why he was absent from this festival, he refused to return
and said: The man whom you venerate was also a working man. But when
he entered the vineyard and opened the ground with his first blow, immediately his neck was twisted and his face was turned around to the back. The
people were watching. Then he was afraid, and weeping loudly he went to
the church of St Avitus. A few days later, after he prayed continuously in the
same place, his neck was straightened and he was well.

108 In 523 abbot Avitus had warned king Chlodomer against killing the Burgundian king
Sigismund, whom he had captured [HF III.6, V.18, GM 741. Gregory had probably visited this
church of St Avitus, since in 585 king Guntramn had visited him at Orlkans in his lodgings near
the church [HF VIII.21: see Vieillard-Troiekouroff (1976), 1 7 5 6 , 200, 247. A vita of Avitus
survives: ed. B. Krusch, MGH, S R M 3 (1896). 383-5. Krusch argued that this Vita was
composed in the early ninth century; Beck (1950). xxxv, suggests that it was composed in the
mid-sixth century.

TRANSLATION

75

98. Abbot Cyprian of PCrigueux

Abbot Cyprian of PCrigueux was a man of magnificent holiness through
whom God deigned to work many miracles in this world. He frequently
healed people who were lame in their hands, restored mobility to paralyzed
people and sight to the blind, and reinstated to their previous health three
lepers who had been anointed with oil. Now also he repeatedly dispenses
cures to ill people if they faithfully seek and pray at his tomb.'Og
99. Abbot Eparchius of AngoulCme
I11 people are also often healed at the tomb of Eparchius, a hermit at
AngoulCme. For both the fevers of people suffering from chills and other
misfortunes are extinguished by his merits. When a blind man from the
temtory of PCrigueux threw himself before the tomb and offered a prayer, he
deserved to receive his sight. A count of the aforementioned city of AngoulCme ordered that a thief who had been apprehended and handed over for
punishment be condemned to the gallows. As the thief was being led to his
death, he began to invoke the name of St Eparchius; after being brought to
the post, he offered a prayer [while] on the ground and then was hung up on
the gallows and left. Because some monks had a presentiment of this, they
simultaneously threw themselves before the tomb of the saint and began to
pray. They said: '0 confessor saint, if you were still alive in this world you
would be able to rescue this poor man from the hand of death, just as you
have often freed those sentenced to such a punishment. But now we have no
doubts about your prayer, so that what you did while alive in this world you
are able to renew after being elevated to heaven.' When night felt the abbot
sent [a monk] to the gallows. As the monk arrived, the bindings immediately
broke and the man fell to the ground. He was supported by the monk and was
brought, still alive, to the monastery.After drinking a little wine he was better.
Once the judge [i.e. the count] pardoned his life, he left as a free man."'

109 The chronology of Cyprian is uncertain; perhaps he lived in the mid-sixth century. His
monastery was at Saint-Cyprien: see Vieillard-Troiekouroff (1976), 25 1.
110 When Gregory had eulogized the life and miracles of Eparchius upon his death in 581,
he also included another version of this story but with the significant difference that Eparchius
was still alive and negotiated directly with the count [HF VI.81. A Wra of Eparchius survives,
composed probably in the early ninth century: ed. B. Krusch, MGH, S R M 3 (1896), 553-60. On
the basis of details in this vita, Krusch (1885), 81 1 n.3, argues that the version in HF was more
accurate than the version here in GC.

76

GLORY OF THE CONFESSORS

100. Bishop Felix of Bourges

After the death of bishop Felix of Bourges his tomb, which was sculpted
from Parian marble, was placed on top of the ground. When a blind man,
after his darkness vanished, received sight in his eyes at the tomb of Felix,
the people acknowledgedhim as a friend of God whom they did not deserve
to recognize fully when he was placed in a body because the mists of this
world were an obstacle. They began to cross the threshold [of his shrine]
because of the frequency of their prayers. But since, as I said, the marble
sarcophagus was covered with a less expensive stone, the wisdom of the
citizens and especially of the bishop covered the sarcophagus with a better
lid, that is, one made from Heraclean marble. When they removed the less
expensive stone, they found that the body of the confessor, almost twelve
years after [his death], was so untouched that no decay was found in the
body and no corruption in his clothing; but everything was so intact that, as
I said, it was all thought to have been placed in that tomb at that hour. But the
compassion of the Lord was not lacking there, so that the stone that was
rejected did not remain without any glory. For some say that many people
scratched off and drank a bit of dust from it, and as many were quickly
delivered from quartan fevers as from tertian and daily fevers.
101. Abbot Junianus of Limoges
Junianus was a hermit in the territory of Limoges. While alive he
revealed many miracles to the people; now ill people are often cured at his
tomb. For I have seen many people, whom I thinkit too tedious to enumerate,
who were brought there and received sight for their blind eyes or who were
paralytics and were cured. These people offer proof. Today those who receive
their health immediately make themselves subjects of this shrine, and after
the cycle of another year rolls around they pay a contribution in gratitude for
their health that was restored. Many of these people are seen to arrive at the
church of my bishop, St Martin [of tour^]."^

1 1 1 Felix was bishop of Bourges during the later 560s and early 570s [GM 331, having
succeeded Robianus [GC 791: see Duchesne (18941915). Ik28. Sulpicius, who served as
bishop of Bourges from 584 [HFVI.39] until 591 [HFX.261, assisted in the enhancement of
Felix's tomb, located in a church outside Bourges: see Vieillard-Troiekouroff (1976). 61-2.
112 Junianus seems to have lived during the late fifth and early sixth centuries: see
Vieillard-Troiekouroff(1976), 260,and Heinzelmann(1982). 632.A Vim of Junianus survives, composed probably during the ninth century or later: ed. B. Krusch, MGH, S R M 3 (1896). 377-9.

TRANSLATION

77

102. Pelagia of Limoges

Pelagia was a devout ascetic and the mother of the blessed abbot Aredius
whom I mentioned above. When she was oppressed by fevers and near
death, she called her son and said: I ask, my most beloved son, that you not
bury me for four days, so that all the servants and maids might come and see
my body and so that none of those whom I have most carefully supported
might be excluded from my funeral. As she said this, she sent forth her
spirit. After being washed according to custom she was placed on a bier and
brought to the church. Before she was buried on the fourth day such a sweet
fragrance flowed from her body that everyone was surprised. During the
night a huge ball of fire appeared that rose in the east, moved across the
circuit of the sky, and stopped over the church in which the body of the dead
woman was lying. The sudden brightness of this ball of fire so filled the
entire church that people thought they saw the middle of the day. Immediately many possessed people cried out and said: Martin [of Tours] has come
to the funeral of Pelagia! On the next Sunday after she was buried people
placed a candle at her head and said: Our candle is insufficient, for already
the night is longer; when we rise for matins, then let this candle be burning.
They closed the door and left. When their sleep was over, they entered the
church and found that the candle that they had left extinguished was [now]
burning. Often cures are performed for ill people at the tomb of this ascetic
woman.13
103. The tomb of Criscentia at Paris

In a village [in the territory] of Paris there was a tomb not far from the
spot where, as some say, the church is called the Senior Church. The tomb
was not covered by a shelter. On the stone [tomb] was this inscription: Here
lies Criscentia, a girl dedicated to God. But no generation could remember
of what value her merit had been and what she had done in this world.
Recently, however, a cleric read this epitaph. Under the motivation of their
faith men suspected that the virgin could have influence with the divine
majesty. While they continued in this suspicion, a man whom the burning of
a tertian fever was distressing with severe tremors scratched a bit of dust
from the tomb and drank it; soon his tremors were calmed and he was well.
The news was published and was of great benefit to many people afflicted
with this illness. At a later time a man employed by the mint began to be
113 Pelagia died probably in 586, when a shining light in the shape of a serpent passed
across the sky [HFVIII.42]. Her son Aredius was a friend of Gregory [GC 91.

78

GLORY OF THE CONFESSORS

seriously ill. A girl appeared to him in a vision and said: 'Go as quickly as
you can and cover the tomb of the virgin Criscentia. This deed will assist you
so that you will not suffer long from the illness that holds you.' The man
believed, looked for limestone, and built an oratory over the tomb; immediately he was freed from his illness. But so that the power of the virgin might
be exalted by greater honors, one man from the city had such a painful tooth
that his jaw swelled and he was barely able to chew a small piece of tender
food. Filled with faith he went to the tomb. He made a toothpick that was
pointed on one end, as it is usually made for cleaning teeth when used by
people, and put it on the tomb of the girl. As soon as it then touched the tooth
that ached, all the pain went numb. After the reception of this proof those
whom this pain bothered were soon cured when they sought the assistance
of her power.'14
104. The blessed Radegund of Poitiers

The blessed Radegund, whom I mentioned at the beginning of my book

about martyrs, migrated from this world after completing the labors of her
life. After receiving the news of her death I went to the convent at Poitiers
that she had f ~ u n d ed . ''I~found her lying on a bier; her holy face was so
bright that it surpassed the beauty of lilies and roses. Standing around the
bier was a large crowd of nuns, about two hundred of them, who had converted because of Radegund's preaching and adopted the holy life. According to the status of this world not only were they [descended]from senators,
but some were [descended] from the royal family;116now they blossomed
114 The identificationof this church is uncertain. Perhaps Gregory here referred to a church
over the tomb of Marcellus [GC 871: see Vieillard-Troiekouroff (1976), 210, 215. Duval
(1960), 108-9, prefers to read the girl's name as Crescentia and dates the epitaph to the late
fourth or early fifth century.
1 15 Gregory elsewhere mentioned Radegund only occasionally. She was the daughter of the
king of Thuringia and was captured by king Chlothar in c.531, who then married her. But after
her husband had her brother killed, she left him, became a nun, and founded a convent in
Poitiers [HF III.7,M.39421. There Gregory sometimes visited her [GM51. Radegund died in
587 [cf. HF IX.21. n o Vitae of Radegund survive. One was written by Fortunatus, her friend
who later became bishop of Poitiers: ed. B. Krusch, MGH,AA 4.2 (1885). 38-49, and again in
MGH,SRM 2 (1888), 364-77. The other was written by Baudonivia, a nun who had lived in the
convent during Radegund's lifetime: ed. B. Krusch, MGH, SRh4 2 (1888). 377-95.
116 For her convent Radegund had adopted a monastic Rule composed by Caesarius,
bishop of Arles in the first half of the sixth century: see McCarthy (1960) and Hochstetler
(1987). She had also designated Agnes as abbess and subordinated herself to her authority [HF
M.421. But after the deaths of both, in 589 more than forty nuns revolted against the abbess

TRANSLATION

79

according to the rule of their piety. They stood there weeping and saying:
'Holy mother, to whom will you leave us orphans? To whom do you entrust
us who have been abandoned? We have left our parents, our possessions,
and our homeland, and we have followed you. What will you leave us except
perpetual tears and endless grief? Behold, until now this convent was more
important for us than were the open spaces of villas or of cities. Wherever
we went, when we saw your glorious face we found there gold and silver;
there we saw blossoming vineyards, waving cornfields, and meadows blooming with a variety of different flowers. From you we picked violets; for us,
you were a glowing red rose and a brilliant lily. Your words shone for us like
the sun; like the moon they illuminated a clear lamp of truth for the darkness
of our conscience. Now, however, our entire world has been darkened and
the area of this place has been constricted, since we do not deserve to see
your face. Alas for us, who have been abandoned by our holy mother! Happy
were those who migrated from this world while you were alive! We know
that you have been admitted to the chorus of holy virgins and to the Paradise
of God. Although we are consoled by that, the fact that we cannot see you
with the eyes of our bodies is a reason for us to weep.' They said these words
and others while they wept.
When I was unable to restrain them from weeping, I turned to the abbess
[Agnes]and said 'Cease for a little while from this weeping and instead prepare
whatever is necessary. Behold, our brother Maroveus, the bishop of Poitiers,
is not present because the task of visiting his parishes has detained him.'17
Leubovera. Their leaders were Chrodechildis and Basina, daughters of kings Charibert and
Chilperic respectively. When local bishops such as Gregory did not support their revolt,
Chrodechildis threatened to appeal to her royal relatives. Kings Guntramn and Childebert II
instead supported the bishops who excommunicated these rebellious nuns [HF IX.39-431. In
590 Chrodechildis resorted to violence and hired men to invade the convent, but again with
royal support bishops excommunicated her and the other nuns [HF X.15-171: see
Scheibelreiter (1979) and Wallace-Hadrill (1983). 44-5,55-7.
117 Maroveus was bishop of Poitiers and a contemporary of Gregory: see Duchesne (18941915) II:83. He and Radegund kept their distance from each other; while Radegund was
concerned lest he interfere in her convent [HF IX.421, he was probably only too aware of her
royal patronage: see James (1982). 107-9. In 568-569 Radegund had acquired relics of the
True Cross and of various saints from the imperial court in Constantinople [cf. GM 51. When
Maroveus would not preside at the transfer of these relics to her convent, bishop Eufronius of
Tours substituted. Thereafter Maroveus refused to offer his protection to this convent in his
diocese and did not attend Radegund's funeral. Although after her death he received a royal
diploma granting him jurisdiction over the convent, lingering resentment against him also
precipitated the revolt of the nuns [HF IX.40,43].

80

GLORY OF THE CONFESSORS

Now, however, form a plan so that the holy body is not injured and so that
the grace that God has bestowed on these holy limbs is not removed while
the time of burial is delayed. Speed up the funeral that is due her, so that she
might be placed in the tomb with honor. The abbess replied to these words:
But what will we do if the bishop of the city has not come? For the place
where she ought to be buried has not been sanctified with the blessing of a
bishop. Then the citizens and the other respected men who had come for the
funeral of the blessed queen asked of my littleness and said: Presume upon
the love of your brother and bless this altar. For we trust in his goodwill that
what you do will not offend him, but that he will be most grateful. Take [this
task] upon yourself, we ask, so that the holy flesh might be placed in the
tomb. So, since I was requested by them, I blessed the altar in her cell. But
when we began to move the holy body and to escort it with the chanting of
psalms, then possessed people shouted, acknowledged this saint of God, and
said that she was tormenting them. As we passed by beneath the wall, a
crowd of virgins began to cry and weep from the windows of the towers and
from the tops of the fortificationsof the wall, with the result that in the midst
of the sobbing and the rejoicing of the psalms no one could keep themselves
from weeping. The clerics too, whose duty was the chanting of psalms,
could scarcely recite the antiphon because of their sobbing and weeping.
Then we came to the tomb.* The foresight of the abbess had prepared a
wooden casket in which she placed Radegunds body, packed in spices. The
container for this entombment was therefore larger [than usual]; the casket
was formed by removing one side from each of two tombs and then joining
them together. Then the casket with the holy limbs was put in place. After
offering a prayer I left, reserving for the local bishop [Maroveus the honor
of] celebrating mass and covering the tomb with a lid.
I returned to the convent, and the abbess and the virgins led me to the
particular spots where St Radegund had been accustomed to read or to pray.
The abbess was weeping and said: Behold, we are entering her cell, but we
do not find the mother who is lost! Behold the mat on which she bent her
knees, wept, and prayed for the mercy of omnipotent God, but we do not see
her! Behold the book in which she read, but her voice that was seasoned with
a spiritual sharpness does not strike our ears! Behold the spindles on which
she used to weave during her long fasts and while weeping copiously, but the
118 In the letter Radegund wrote to local bishops when she had founded her convent, she
asked to be buried in the church of St Mary that she had constructed [HF IX.421: see
Vieillard-Troiekouroff (1976). 229-30.

TRANSLATION

81

beloved fingers of her holiness are not to be seen! As they said this, they
wept again and sighed, and even the internal organs of those weeping were
dissolved in tears because of the emotion. Such grief overwhelmed my
breast that I would not have stopped weeping if I did not realize that the
blessed Radegund had departed from her convent in body but not in power,
and that she had been taken from the world and placed in heaven.
105. Bishop Tetricus
106. St Orientius, bishop

107. The virgin Quiteria

108. St Paulinus, bishop

Paulinus was a man with a [distinguished]life. He was descended from
a noble family [and became bishop] of Nola. He chose Therasia as a wife
who was comparable to himself. He possessed much wealth and was as
wealthy in the ownership of estates as he was reliable in the protection of his
homes. There is a passage from the Gospels in which the Lord criticized a
young man for his wealth and said: Go, sell all that you have and give to the
poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me. It is easier
for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter
the kingdom of God [Matthew 19:21,24]. As soon as this passage entered
Paulinus ears, he immediately sold all that he had and donated it to the poor.
Relieved of all his desires, he freely followed his master. In this way he
thought that he might be enriched by the wealth of Paradise, if he was seen
to possess nothing transitory. Divine majesty assisted him, so that what [the
Lord] had said in the Gospel was impossible, Paulinus deserved to make
possible and perform in his actions. Once a man who requested a donation
119 Although Gregory included these three headings in his table of contents for the GC, no
extant manuscripts contain the chapters; Krusch (1885). 816 n.1, suggests that perhaps
Gregorys death prevented him from composing the actual chapters. Tetricus was a great-uncle
of Gregory. He had succeeded his father, bishop Gregorius of Langres [GM50, VP 71, in c.540
and served as bishop until c.573; Gregory may have written another small book about him
[HF IV.161. Orientius was bishop of Auch in the early and mid-fifth century and a poet: see
Griffe (1964-1966). 119-20,314.276-7. A vita of Orientius survives, composed perhaps in
the early sixth century: ed. Acfu Suncfonrrn, Maius I (1866). 62-3. Quiteria is unknown.
According to a later account, after being decapitated as a martyr in Spain at the end of the fifth
century she had carried her head some miles before being buried. A marble sarcophagus attributed to Quiteria has been found at Aire-sur-I Adour: see Vieillard-Troiekouroff (1976). 27-8.

82

GLORY OF THE CONFESSORS

came to him, and Paulinus said to his wife: Go and give him what he considers necessary. His wife replied: We have no more than one loaf of
bread. Paulinus said to her: Go and give it away. The Lord will give us
food. But Therasia, like a conscientious woman, wanted the bread to be
kept, lest she have nothing, and did not want to give it away. Then some men
came and said that they had been sent by their masters to bring Paulinus a
gift of grain and wine. They said they had been delayed because a storm that
arose had carried off one of their ships with its wheat. The man of God
turned to his wife and said: Be aware that because you stole one loaf from
that poor man, this ship was sunk.
As if about to make a pilgrimage he set out with his wife for another
region; he possessed nothing except his own rank. Much later when the
inhabitants of his own region looked for him, he could not be found at all. A
merchant from that city went to the city where the blessed man was serving
the celestial Lord. When he saw Paulinus, immediately he threw himself to
the ground, embraced the feet of the saint, and said: This is the blessed
Paulinus, who is known to the entire world but who could not be found at all
when sought at length by his own citizens. The merchant told of all of
Paulinus actions, and those who listened were amazed. When the bishop of
Nola died, immediately Paulinus was selected as his successor. Because this
church possessed much wealth, the Lord fulfilled in Paulinus what he had
deigned to promise in the Gospel: He who will have abandoned everything
for my sake will receive a hundred-fold in this world and will possess eternal
life in the future [Matthew 19:29]. But once he assumed the episcopacy,
Paulinus always presented himself as a humble man, because he knew that
he would be exalted in the presence of God if he pursued humility. The
income from the churchs revenues that his hand touched was immediately
donated to the poor. His most chaste wife never disagreed with him.
Paulinus was a holy man [noted] for his marvelous discretion and
educated in rhetorical skills. His literary corpus, so far as it is extant for me,
truly demonstrates his skill. He wrote on various subjects in verse as well as
120 Paulinus was a member of a noted Gallic family and had served briefly in the imperial
administration before committing himself to a more ascetic form of Christianity at the end of
the fourth century. Eventually he moved to Nola, a small town near Naples in Italy, where he
subsequently served as bishop until his death in 431: see Frend (1969). Brown (1981,) 53-68,
and Van Dam (1983,303-1 1. Gregory seems to have been attracted enough to the example of
Paulinus that he concluded this book with a chapter about Paulinus and his book about the
martyrs with a chapterabout St Felix, the patron saint of Nola whose cult Paulinus had
promoted [GM 1031.

TRANSLATION

83

in prose. He wrote six books in verse about the miracles of the blessed
Martin and some other short poems in praise of Martin. For Paulinus saw
Martin when he was alive in his body, and he received sight in his own eye
from Martin. Because Paulinus had increased the gifts of his spiritual favors,
he was so distinguished for his power that at his death, before he gave up his
spirit, he saw with the eyes of his body Martin and Genuarius of Italy, who
had migrated from this world before Paulinus.lZ1
Because I have read nothing about the life of the blessed Paulinus, I am
relating what I learned from an account of trustworthy men when I wished to
speak of his almsgiving. Because I have a long account of Paulinus death, I
have therefore not repeated it in turn. Behold what almsgiving offers!
Behold what treasures God bestows upon his saints who give themselves to
the poor! In contrast, he removes from those who lust in the evil of avarice
that which they wickedly covet, in accordance with the saying in the sacred
Gospel: To him who has it will be given, and he will have abundance; but
from him who has not, what he seems to have will be taken away [Matthew
13:12, 25:29].
109. The merchant who did not give alms
The account of many people confirms that this happened somewhere in
a port on the sea. A poor man who was old and weighed down with bags came
to the seacoast. He went to the port and began to seek alms from ship-owners.
He repeatedly begged from a man who was captain of a ship and said: Give
me something. The other man was upset and said: Stop it, I ask of you,
decrepit old man, and do not beg me for anything; for here [in this ship] we
have nothing except stones. The poor man replied: If you say that the ship
in your command contains stones, then everything will be changed into
stones. And immediately the entire cargo of the ship, whatever could be
121 Sulpicius Severus, viru Martini 19.3, ed. C . Halm, CSEL 1 (1866). 128, and trans. A.
Roberts, NPNF 2nd series, 11 (repr. 1973). 13, had already recorded how bishop Martin of
Tours had once healed Paulinus; Uranius, Episfolu de obiru S. Paulini ad Pucarum (PL 53.85966), to whose account of Paulinus death Gregory here referred, mentioned that on his deathbed
Paulinus had conversed with St Martin and St Genuarius (or Januarius), a bishop and martyr of
Naples. Paulinus wrote many letters and poems, and Gregory excerpted some of the latter
composed in honor of St Felix [GM 1031: ed. G. de Hartel, CSEL 29-30 (1 894), and trans. P.G.
Walsh, ACW 35-36.40 (1966-1975). But Gregory was mistaken, here and elsewhere [VM 1.21,
in attributing to Paulinus of Nola the authorship of a long poem, in six books, that had versified
first the writings of Sulpicius Severus about St Martin and then an account of miracles that St
Martin had performed after his death. In fact, Paulinus of Pkrigueux had composed this poem in
the mid-fifth century: ed. M. Petschenig, CSEL 16.1 (1888), 17-159, with Van Dam (1986).

84

GLORY OF THE CONFESSORS

eaten, was changed to stone. I myself saw dates from this cargo, and I saw
olives that were harder than marble. For although they were changed into the
hardness of a stone, they never lost the color they had had, and both shape
and appearance remained the same. Although the captain of the ship was
moved to repentance, he could never find the old man whom he sought.
Some say that he sent [a sample] from the goods that were changed to stone
for viewing in many cities, so that it might be an example for everyone that
they do not do the same. Behold what you do, shameless greediness! You
have made a pauper out of a man who thought he could become wealthier by
not giving something to a poor man.

110. Another [merchant] who diluted his wine

I will not pass over what happened to another man who wished to
increase his worldly profits by counterfeiting. At Lyon a man who had
worked [only] reluctantly so that he could acquire one small gold coin
burned with an impious lust for accursed gold and wished to fill the mouth of
a sack with gold, in accordance with that line by our [poet] Prudentius: As
gold is amassed, the lust for gold is enhanced.22So he purchased wine with
this small gold coin, mixed it with water, sold it for silver coins, and doubled
his money. He did this again and again, and he pursued evil profit long
enough until he accumulated one hundred large gold coins from this one
small gold coin. But the judgement of God restrained the profits of the devil.
Although he was to possess his money for the short time of one hour, the
greedy merchant collected his gold in a sack and went to the market of
another merchant. He took out a small gold coin as if he were about to
purchase something and began to talk with his friend. His sack was made
from Phoenician [i.e. purple-red] leather, like those it is customary to carry
in ones hand. And behold, suddenly a hawk came, seized the sack with his
claws, and, thinking from the color that it was a piece of flesh, tried to tear it.
But when the bird realized there was no meat in the sack, it flew over the
Sa6ne river - from which the man had drained water to mix with his wine released the sack, and dropped it in the river. The man pulled his hair, threw
himself to the ground, sprinkled dust over his head, and said: Woe am I,
who am crushed by the judgement of God and have lost the money that was
collected unjustly! For I accumulated one hundred large gold coins from one
small gold coin. Now that the one hundred large coins are lost, only this one
122 Quoted inaccurately from hdentius, Humurtigeniu 257, ed. and trans. H.J. Thomson,
LCL (1949-1953), I: 222-3.

TRANSLATION

85

small gold coin remains for me. Woe am I; as I have done, so I have
received. I who acquired these coins from nothing see them returned to
nothing!
Devil, such money is yours, and through such profits you lead those who
obey you to hell. Such a transaction inflicts the mark of condemnation in the
present and produces varieties of different punishments in the future. I ask
that you who read these words cease from these activities, cease and do not
participate in such behavior! Let the favor of divine majesty be your profit;
let the teaching of the sacred Scripture be your occupation! Let your
association be with the purses of the poor that extinguish the raging fire of
eternal hell! This goal must not be sought by ones own power, but must be
requested from the pity of the Lord, who deigns to answer us because of the
holy intercession of those [saints] whose holy miracles this book reveals.
Then, by making a good account not only regarding our earthly wealth but
also regarding the talents [mentioned] in his parable, after receiving the
reward for multiplying [our wealth] may we deserve to hear the Lord say:
Well done, faithful servant. Because you have been faithful over a little, I
will set you over much; enter into the joy of your Lord [Matthew 25:21].

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Anson, J. (1974). The female transvestite in early monasticism: the origin

and development of a motif, Viator 5, pp. 1-32.
Banniard, M. (1978). Lamknagement de lhistoire chez Grkgoire de Tours:
h propos de Iinvasion de 451 (H.L.115-7),Romanobarbarica 3, pp. 537.
Barnes, T.D. (1981). Constantine and Eusebius (Cambridge, MA).
Baus, K., H.-G.Beck, E. Ewig, and H.J. Vogt (1980). The imperial Church
from Constantine to the early Middle Ages = History of the Church, ed.
H. Jedin and J. Dolan, vol. 2, trans. A. Biggs (New York).
Beck, H.G.J. (1950). The pastoral care of souls in south-east France during
the sixth century (Rome).
Biraben, J.-N. and J. Le Goff (1975). The plague in the early Middle Ages,
in Biology of man in history, ed. R. Forster and 0. Ranum, trans. E.
Forster and P.M. Ranum (Baltimore),48-80.
Bonnet, M. (1890). Le Latin de Grkgoire de Tours (Paris).
Brennan, B. (1985). The career of Venantius Fortunatus, Traditio 41,
pp.49-7 8.
-(1985a). Episcopae: bishops wives viewed in sixth-century Gaul,
Church History 54, pp. 3 11-23.
Brown, P. (1981). The cult of the saints. Its rise and function in Latin
Christianity (Chicago).
Buchner, R. (1955). Einleitung, in Gregor von Tours, Zehn Biicher
Geschichten,ed. and trans. R. Buchner (Darmstadt, 4th ed.), I: vii-li.
Bynum, C.W. (1987). Holy feast and holy fast. The religious signijkance of
food to medieval women (Berkeley).
Chadwick, 0.(1948). Gregory of Tours and Gregory the Great, Journal of
Theological Studies 49, pp. 3 8 4 9 .
Clark, E.A. (1982). Claims on the bones of Saint Stephen: the partisans of
Melania and Eudocia, Church History 51, pp. 141-56. Reprinted in her
Ascetic piety and womens faith. Essays on late ancient Christianity.
Studies in Women and Religion 20 (Lewiston, 1986), 95-123.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

87

Collins, R. (1980). MCrida and Toledo: 550-585, in visigothic Spain: new

approaches, ed. E. James (Oxford), 189-219.
-(1983). Early medieval Spain: unity in diversity, 400-1000 (London).
Courcelle, P. (1964). Histoire litteraire des grades invasions gemuzniques
(Paris, 3rd ed.).
Dalton, O.M. (1927). The history of the Franks by Gregory of Tours
(Oxford), 2 vols. [I: Introduction; 11: Translation and notes].
Delehaye, H. (1927). Sanctus. Essai sur le culte des saints dans lantiquite.
Subsidia hagiographica 17 (Brussels).
Dolbeau, F. (1983). La vie en prose de saint Marcel, CvCque de Die.
Histoire du texte et edition critique, Francia 11, pp. 97-130.
Duchesne, L. (1894-1915). Fastes episcopauxde lancienne Gaule (Paris),
3 vols.
Duval, P.-M. (1960), ed. Les inscriptions antiques de Paris, vol. 1 (Paris).
Elbern, V.H. (1966). HIC SCS SYMION. Eine vorkarolingische Kultstatue
des Symeon Stylites in Poitiers, Cahiers archeologiques16, pp. 23-38.
Ewig, E. (1961). Le culte de Saint Martin B 1Cpoque franque, Revue
dhistoire de leglise de France 47, pp.1-18. Reprinted in his Sputantikes
und frankisches Gallien. Gesammelte Schrifen (1952-1973), ed. H.
Atsma, vol. 2 (Munich, 1979), 355-70.
-(1974). Studien zur merowingischen Dynastie, Fruhmittelalterliche
Studien 8, pp. 15-59.
-(1978). Bemerkungen zur Vita des Bischofs Lupus von Troyes, in
Geschichtsschreibung und geistiges Leben im Mittelaltel: FestschriBfur
Heinz Liiwe zum 65. Geburtstag,ed. K. Hauck and J. Mordek (Cologne),
14-26.
Fontaine, J. (1967-1969), ed. and trans. Sulpice Sev6re, Vie de saint Martin.
SChr 133-135 (Paris), 3 vols.
- (1976). Hagiographie et politique, de Sulpice Stvkre B Venance
Fortunat, Revue dhistoire de 1eglisede France 62, pp. 11340.
Fournier, P.-F. (1955). La persistance du Gaulois au VIe sikcle daprks
GrCgoire de Tours, in Recueil de travaux offert c i M. Clovis Brunel
(Paris), I:448-53.
- (1979). Saint Austremoine premier CvCque de Clermont. Son
Cpiscopat, ses reliques, ses legendes, Bulletin historique et scientzjkpe
de 1 Auvergne 89, pp. 417-7 1.
Frend, W.H.C. (1969). Paulinus of Nola and the last century of the western
empire, Journal of Roman Studies 59, pp. 1-1 1. Reprinted in his Town
and country in the early Christiancenturies (London, 1980), Chap. XIV.

88

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Gauthier, N. (1980). Lkvangklisation des pays de la Moselle. La province

romaine de Premi2re Belgique entre antiquite et Moyen-Age (IIIe-VIIIe
sitcles) (Paris).
Geary, P.J. (1988). Before France and Gennany. The creation and
transformation of the Merovingian world (Oxford).
Gilliard, ED. (1975). The apostolicity of Gallic churches, Harvard
Theological Review 68, pp.17-33.
Goffart, W. (1987). From Historiae to Historia Francorum and back again:
aspects of the textual history of Gregory of Tours, in Religion, culture,
and society in the early Middle Ages. Studies in honor of Richard E.
Sullivan, ed. T.F.X. Noble and J.J. Contreni (Kalamazoo), 55-76.
Gras, P. (1955). Le skjour h Dijon des W q u e s de Langres du Ve au IXe
sibcle. Ses consequences sur 1histoirede la ville, in Recueil de travaux
ofiert b M. Clovis Brunel (Paris), 1:550-61.
Graviers, J. des (1946). La date du commencementde lannk chez Grkgoire
de Tours, Revue dhistoire de lkglise de France 32, pp. 103-6.
Griffe, E. (1955). Les origines chrktiennes de la Gaule et les lkgendes
clkmentines, Bulletin de littkrature ecclisiastique 56, pp. 3-22.
-(1964-1966). La Gaule chrktienne ci lepoque romaine (Paris, rev.ed.),
3 vols.
Heinzelmann, M. (1981). Une source de base de la littkrature hagiographique latine: le recueil de miracles, in Hagiographie, cultures et
sociitks We-XIIe sitcles. Actes du Colloque organise b Nanterre et ci
Paris (2-5 mai 1979) (Paris), 235-57.
-(1982). Gallische Prosopographie260-527, Francia 10, pp. 531-718.
-and J.-C. Poulin (1986). Les vies anciennes de sainte Genevitve de
Paris. Etudes critiques. Bibliothbque de 1Ecole des Hautes Etudes, IVe
section, sciences historiques et philologiques 329 (Paris).
Hochstetler, D. (1987). The meaning of monastic cloister for women
according to Caesarius of Arles, in Religion, culture, and society in the
early Middle Ages. Studies in honor of Richard E. Sullivan, ed. T.F.X.
Noble and J.J. Contreni (Kalamazoo), 27-40.
Hunt, E.D. (1982). Holy Land pilgrimage in the later Roman empire AD
312-460 (Oxford).
James, E. (1982). The origins of France. From Clovis to the Capetians,500I000 (New York).
- (1983). Beati pacifici: bishops and the law in sixth-century Gaul,
in Disputes and settlements. Law and human relations in the West,ed. J.
Bossy (Cambridge), 25-46.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

89

-(1985),trans. Gregory of Tours, Life of the Fathers (Liverpool).

Krusch, B. (1 885). Georgii Florentii Gregorii episcopi Turonensis libri octo

miraculorum, in MGH, SRM 1 (Hannover), 451-820 [Introduction,
edition of text, and notes].
- (1951). Gregorii episcopi Turonensis decem libri historiarum.
Praefatio, in MGH, SRM 1.1, editio altera, fasc.3 (Hannover), ix-xxii.
Kurth, G. (1919).Etudesfranques (Paris and Brussels), 2 vols.
Le Goff, J. (1980).Clerical culture and folklore traditions in Merovingian
civilization, in his Time, work, and culture in the Middle Ages, trans. A.
Goldhammer (Chicago), 153-8.
-(1980a).Ecclesiastical culture and folklore in the Middle Ages: Saint
Marcellus of Paris and the dragon, in his Time, work, and culture in the
Middle Ages, trans. A. Goldhammer (Chicago), 159-88.
Lelong, C. (1960).De limportance du pklerinage de Tours au VIe sikcle,
Bulletin trimestriel de la Societearcheologique de Touraine 32,pp. 232-7.
Levillain, L. (1927).Saint Trophime, confesseur et mktropolitain de Arles,
et la mission des Sept en Gaule, Revue dhistoire de leglise de France
13,pp. 145-89.
Lot, F. (1929).La Eta Eviani et la domination visigothique en Aquitaine,
in Melanges Paul Foumier (Paris), 467-77.Reprinted in his Recueil des
travaux historiques de Ferdinand Lot, vol. 2 (Geneva, 1970),101-1 1.
Mandouze, A. (1982).Prosopographie de IAfrique chretienne (303-533) =
Prosopographie chretienne du Bas-Empire, vol. 1 (Paris).
Mathisen, R.W. (1982). PLRE 11: suggested addenda and corrigenda,
Historia 3 1, pp. 364-86.
-(1987).Some hagiographical addenda to RL.R.E., Historia 36,pp.
448-6 1.
McCarthy, M.C. (1960). The Rule for nuns of St. Caesarius of Arles. A
translation with a critical introduction (Washington, DC).
McDermott, W.C. (1975).Bishops: the world of Gregory of Tours, in
Monks, bishops and pagans. Christian culture in Gaul and Italy, 500700,ed. E. Peters (Philadelphia), 117-218.
(1975a).Felix of Nantes: a Merovingian bishop, Traditio 31,pp. 124.
Meyer, W. ( 1901). Der Gelegenheitsdichter Venantius Fortunatus. Abhandlungen der koniglichen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Gottingen,
philologisch-historische Klasse, neue Folge, Band IV no. 5 (Berlin).
Mitchell, K. (1987). Saints and public Christianity in the Hisforiae of
Gregory of Tours, in Religion, culture, and society in the early Middle
~

90

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Ages. Studies in honor of Richard E. Sullivan, ed. T.F.X. Noble and J.J.
Contreni (Kalamazoo), 77-94.
Monod, G. (1872). Etudes critiques sur les sources de lhistoire merovingienne, vol. 1 (Paris).
Nie, G. de (1985). The spring, the seed and the tree: Gregory of Tours on
the wonders of nature, Journal of Medieval History 11, pp. 89-135.
Reprinted in her Kewsfrom a many-windowed towel: Studies of imagination in the works of Gregory of Tours (Amsterdam, 1987), 71-132.
Patlagean, E. (1976). Lhistoire de la femme dCguis6e en moine et
1Cvolution de la saintetC fkminine B Byzance, Studi medievali, ser. 3,
17, pp.597-623. Reprinted in her Structure sociale,famille, chretienteci
Byzance, We-Xle si2cle (London, 1981), Chap. XI.
Pietri, L. (1983). La ville de Tours du W e au Vle si2cle: naissance dune cite
chretienne (Rome).
-(1983a). U s abMs de basilique dans la Gaule du VIe si&cle,Revue
dhistoire de leglise de France 69, pp. 5-28.
Prieur, J.-M. (1981). La figure de lap6tre dans les Actes apocryphes
dAndrC, in Les Actes apocryphes des apdtres. Christianisme et monde
pafen, ed. F. Bovon et al. (Geneva), 121-39.
RichC, P. (1976). Education and culture in the barbarian West sixth through
eighth centuries, trans. J.J. Contreni (Columbia).
Rouche, M. (1979). LAquitaine des Wisigothsaux Arabes. Naissance dune
region (Paris).
Scheibelreiter, G. (1979). Konigstijchter im Kloster. Radegund (t 587) und
der Nonnenaufstand von Poitiers (589): Mitteilungen des Instituts fur
osterreichische Geschichtsforschung 87, pp. 1-37.
Schlick, J. (1966). Composition et chronologie des De virtutibus sancti
Martini de Grkgoire de Tours, Studia Patristica 7 = Texte und
Untersuchungen 92, pp. 278-86.
Selle-Hosbach, K. (1974). Prosopographie merowingischer Amtstruger in
der Zeit von 511 bis 613 (Bonn).
Stancliffe, C. (1983). St. Martin and his hagiographer History and miracle
in Sulpicius Severus (Oxford).
Stock, B. (1983). The implications of literacy. Written language and models
of interpretation in the eleventh and twelfth centuries (Princeton).
Straeten, J. van der (1974). Vie inCdite de S. Memmie premier CvCque de
Chalons-sur-Marne,Analecta Bollandiana 92, pp. 297-3 19.
Stroheker, K.F. (1948). Der senatorische Adel im spatantiken Gallien
(Tubingen).

BIBLIOGRAPHY

91

Thompson, E.A. (1969). The Goths in Spain (Oxford).

-(1984). Saint Germanus of Auxerre and the end of Roman Britain
(Woodbridge).
Thorpe, L. (1974), trans. Gregory of Tours, The history of the Franks
(Harmondsworth).
Van Dam, R. (1985). Leadership and community in late antique Gaul
(Berkeley).
-(1986). Paulinus of PCrigueux and Perpetuus of Tours, Francia 14,
pp. 567-73.
-(1988), trans. Gregory of Tours, Glory of the martyrs (Liverpool).
-(1988a). Images of St. Martin in late Roman and early Merovingian
Gaul, Viator 19, pp. 1-27.
Vieillard-Troiekouroff, M. (1976). Les monuments religieux de la Gaule
dapr2s les oeuvres de Grkgoire de Tours (Paris).
Vollmann, B.K. (1983). Gregory IV (Gregory von Tours), in Reallexikon
fiirAntike und Christentum, ed. T. Klauser et al., vol. 12 (Stuttgart), col.
895-930.
Wallace-Hadrill, J.M. (1967). The barbarian West 400-1000 (London, 3rd
ed.).
-(1983). The Frankish Church (Oxford).
Weidemann, M. (1982). Kulturgeschichte der Merowingerzeit nach den
Werken Gregors von Tours (Mainz), 2 vols.
Wood, I.N. (1979). Early Merovingian devotion in town and country, in
The Church in town and countryside, ed. D. Baker. Studies in Church
History 16 (Oxford), 61-76.
-(1981). A prelude to Columbanus: the monastic achievement in the
Burgundian territories, in Columbanus and Merovingian monasticism,
ed. H.B. Clarke and M. Brennan. BAR International Series 113
(Oxford), 3-32.
-(1983). The ecclesiasticalpolitics of Merovingian Clermont, in Ideal
and reality in Frankish and Anglo-Saxon society. Studies presented to
J.M. Wallace-Hadrill, ed. P. Wormald, D. Bullough, and R. Collins
(Oxford), 34-57.
- (1984). The end of Roman Britain: continental evidence and
parallels, in Gildas: new approaches, ed. M. Lapidge and D. Dumville.
Studies in Celtic History 5 (Woodbridge), 1-25.
(1985). Gregory of Tours and Clovis, Revue belge de philologie et
dhistoire 63, pp. 249-72.
-(1986). Disputes in late fifth- and sixth-centuryGaul: some problems,
~

92

BIBLIOGRAPHY

in The settlement of disputes in early medieval Europe, ed. W. Davies

and P. Fouracre (Cambridge), 7-22.
Zelzer, K. (1977). Zur Frage des Autors der Miracula B. Andreae Apostoli
und zur Sprache des Gregor von Tours, Grazer Beitriige 6, pp. 2 1 7 4 1 .

INDEX

Aegidius, see Egidius

Agiulf, deacon, xii, 45n
Agnes, abbess, 78-9n,79
Agricola, bp. of Chalon-sur-Saijne,
65n, 66
Agustus (Augustus), abbot, 60,61n
Aire-sur-lAdour, 39, Sln
Aix-en-Provence, 51-2
Albinus, bp. of Angers, xii, 72
Alexander, monk, 29,29n
Alexandria, 70n
Amabilis, priest, 26-7
Amandus, bp. of Bordeaux, 35
Andrew, apostle, x
Angers, xii, 72n
AngoulEme, 75
Antioch, xv, 22
Antolianus, martyr, 29n
Apollinaris, bp. of Clermont, 27n
Aquitania, 27n
Aravatius, bp. of Maastricht, 52-3
Arboast, priest, 70
Aredius, abbot, xiv, 9-10, 7111, 77n
Arianism, 3n, 1111, 12-13,37
Arles, 5n, 78n
Armentaria, mother of Gregory of
Tours, xiv-xvii, xix, 4-5,66
Artonne, 6-7
Athanasius, bp. of Alexandria, 70n
Auch, 81n
Austremonius, 24n
Autun, xiii, 53-7,61n, 74
Auvergne, ix

Auxerre, xvi, 32,49n,72n

Aventinus, monk, 50
Avitus, bp. of Clermont, xvi, 33
Avitus, abbot, 74
Basina, nun, 78-9n
Baudonivia, nun, 78n
Belgica, 59n
Benignus, bp., 14
Benignus, martyr, 34
Berecynthia, 56
Bibianus (Vivianus), bp. of Saintes, 41
Blaye, 36
Bordeaux, xiii, xvi, 35-7
Bouliac, 37
Bourges, xiii, 59-62,68n, 69,69n, 76,
76n
Brachio, abbot, xiv, 17, 31
Braga, 11-12n
Bretons, 57n
Brioude, ix, xi, 17-1811, 24-51, 32n
Britain, 32n
Britta, virgin, 16
Brives, 60
Cabribres, 4-5n
Caesarius, bp. of Arles, 78-9n
Caiaphas, 25
Cartagena, I 1
Cassianus, bp. of Autun, 54-5
Cassius, 27n
Catianus, bp. of Tours, 5, 24
Cato, priest, 1In, 2 4 %

94
Cautinus, bp. of Clermont, 24
Cavaillon, 4-5n
Chalon-sur-Sadne, xiii, xvi, 4-5n, 65-6
Chaons-sur-Marne, 48
Champagne, 49
Charibert, king of Franks, 16,32n, 78-9n
Charimeris, bp. ofverdun, xii, 71.71-2n
Chartres, 18n, 21, 74
Childebert I, king of Franks, 5211.63,
66n,68n,71
Childebert 11, king of Franks, 78-9n
Childeric, 51, 52n
Childeric the Saxon, duke, 52n
Chilperic, king of Franks, 4n, 68, 789n
Chinon, 19, 20, 20n
Chlodomer, king of Franks, 74n
Chlothar, king of Franks, 9n, 64n, 7111,
78n
Chrodechildis, nun, 78-79n
Cieutat, xiii, xvi, 37
Clement, bp. of Rome, 59n
Clermont, ix, xiii, xv, xvi, Sn, 6-7, 1In,
24-7,31n,32-3,57n
Clotild, queen, 68n
Clovis, king of Franks, ix-x, 20n, 589n, 68n
Constantinople, 47n,79n
Constantius, hagiographer, 32n
Criscentia (Crescentia), virgin, 77-8
GIG, 72
Cyprian. abbot, 75
Cyrila, bp., 12
David, psalmist, 69,72
DBols, 69, 69n
Desideratus, bp. of Bourges, 60,61n
Desideratus, recluse, 85
Die, 50
Dijon, xiii, xvi, 33, 34n
Dionysius, bp. of Paris, 5n
Domitianus, bp. of Angers, xii, 72n

Donatists, 55n
Dynamius, 64n
Edatius, priest, 7-8
Egemonius, bp. of Autun, 54n, 55
Egidius (Aegidius), 19,20n
Embrun, xvi, 50
Eparchius, abbot, 75
Ephesus, x
Epipodius, martyr, 47
Eufronius, bp. of Tours, xiv, 9, 14-16,
22n.79n
Eulalius, archpriest, 7-8
Euphronius, bp. of Autun, 57n
Euric, king of Visigoths, 2711, 37n
Eusebius, bp. of Vercelli, xiii, 4-5
Eusebius Gallicanus, 64n
Eusicius, recluse, 6 2 4
Eutropius, bp. of Angers, 72n
Evaux, 61
Faustus, bp. of Riez, 64n
Felix, bp. of Nantes, 57
Felix, bp. of Bourges, 76
Felix, martyr, 82n
Florentius, father of Gregory of Tours,
xvi, 31-2
Florida, nun, 34
Fortunatus, author and bp. of Poitiers,
xii, In, 3n, 19n, 35,58-9n, 71n,
72,72n,78n
Francia, 32
Franco, bp. of Aix, 5 1
Franks. ix-x
Galicia, 11-12n
Galla, 29, 29n
Gallus, bp. of Clermont, ix, 26511
Gaza, 48
Genovefa, nun, 68
Genuarius (Januarius), bp. of Naples, 83
Georgia, nun, 27

INDEX
Georgius, count, 27
Germanus, bp. of Auxerre, 32-3,49n,
72n
Germanus, bp. of Paris, 60-1,68,69
Germany, 59
Gourdon, 66
Gregorius, bp. of Langres, 34n, 81n
Gregory, bp. of Tours: career and
family of, ix-x, xv-xvii, xix, 4-5,
31-2,34n,44-6,57n, 69n, 8111;
education and writings of, x-xiii,
xvi, xx, 1-2, 13, 19n. 22, 31, 3311,
7 In; sources for, xii-xvii, 2, 5n, 6,
9-12, 17-18, 19, 20,22,24, 32n,
35, 39,4211,4511, 56-8,64, 67, 68n,
72n, 7311, 76; and confessors, xviixx, 85; and St Julian, ix; and St
Martin, ix, xiii, xv-xvi, 7n, 8-1 1,
16-17; and relics, xvii, 16-17, 2811,
34-6,41n, 47,49,66,71-2, 84; at
Poitiers, 78-81
Gregory I, bp. of Rome, 45n
Guntharius, bp. of Tours, 9
Guntramn, king of Franks, 45,45n, 67,
74n
Helarius (Hilarius), senator, 3 3 4 6 6 - 7 n
Helius, bp., 45-6
Hermenegild, 1In
Hilarius, father of Johannes, 66-76
Hilarius, bp. of Javols, 4n; to be
identified with
Hilarus, bp. of Javols, 4n
Hilary, bp. of Poitiers, xiii, xv, 3 4 , 39,
43
Hospitius (Hospicius), ascetic, 73
Huns, xv, 52
Ile-Barbe, 19
Illidius, bp. of Clermont, 16, 17-18n,
26n,30n
Ingenuus, hermit, 74

95

Iniuriosus, 26n
Issoire, 24
Italy, xv
James, 25
Javols, 4
Jesus Christ, xiii, xviii
Jews, 33n,73
Johannes, abbot, 34n,66-7n
Johannis, recluse, 20-1
Jonas, 66-7n
Joshua, 3 1
Julian, martyr, ix, xi, 2, 17, 17-18n,
24-5n,32n
Junianus, abbot, 76
Justinus, priest, 37
Langres, 10, 34n, 57n, 66-711, 81n
Laon, 66-7n
Lazarus, 5
Le Mans, 41
Leo, priest, 8
Leo, emperor, 46,47n
Leovigild, king of Visigoths, 11-12
Le Perche, 74
LCrins, 64n, 73
Leubovera, abbess, 78-9n
Leucadia (Leocadia), 69n
Leucadius (Leocadius), senator, 69,69n
Limagne, 25
Liminius, martyr, 29
Limoges, xiii, xv, 5n, 9, 23, 3811, 76, 77
Litomeris, 18
Lombards, 73n
Lupianus, 40
Lupus, bp. of Troyes, 32n, 49
Lusor, 69
Luynes, 18
Lyon, xii, xiii, xvi, 19, 31n, 32n, 44-8,
66n, 69n,84
Maastricht, xvi, 52-3

96
Mainz, 39
Marcellinus, bp. of Embrun, 50
Marcellus, martyr, 65n
Marcellus, bp. of Die, 50
Marcellus, bp. of Paris, 67-8, 78n
Marianus, recluse, 61-2
Maroveus, bp. of Poitiers, 3n, 79-80
Marseilles, 73
Martha, 39
Martialis, bp. of Limoges, 5n, 23
Martigny, 9
Martin, bp. of Tours: xi, xiii, xv-xvi, 2,
13, 2811, 38n,42,68n, 72,77; tomb
of, ix, xv, 8,9; relics of, 16-17,60;
legends about, xvii, 5-11, 18-19,
31,36,41; and Catianus, 5; and
Paulinus of Nola, xv, 83; and
Vitalina, 6-7
Martin, bp. of Braga, 11-12n
Martinus, abbot, 41
Mary, the Virgin, 48, 80n
Maura, virgin, 16
Maurus, 49
Maximinus, bp. of Trier, 70,71n
Maximus, abbot at Chinon, 19-20;
perhaps to be identified with
Maximus, abbot at Ile-Barbe, 20n
Maximus, bp. of Riez, 64
Medard, bp. of Soissons, xvii, 22n, 71-2
Melanius, bp. of Rennes, 40
Memmius, bp. of Chllons-sur-Marne,
48-9
Mitrias, 5 1-2
Moissat, 33
Monegundis, nun, 21-2
Monulf, bp. of Tongres and Maastricht,
52n,53
Moses, 3 1 , 6 6 7 n
Moutiers-Saint-Jean, 34n, 66n

Naples, 82n
Narbonne, 5n
Nepotianus, bp. of Clermont, 26n, 29-30
NeuillC-le-Lierre, 8
Nice, 73
Nicetius, bp. of Lyon, xvi, 31n,44-5
Nicetius, bp. of Trier, 70-1
Nola, xv, 81-2
North Africa, 12n, 55n
Nun, 31
Nunninus, tribune, 32
Orientius, bp. of Auch, 8 1
OrlCans, 66n, 74,74n
Orosius, historian, 2
Palestine, 53n
Palladius, 43
Palladius, bp. of Saintes, 41,43
Papula, monk, 13-14
Paris, xiii, 5n, 16, 60, 6111, 67-8
Pascentius, bp. of Poitiers, 3n
Paschasia, nun, 34
Paul, apostle, 52n
Paulinus, bp. of Nola, xv, 36-7, 81-3
Paulinus of Pkrigueux, 83n
Paulus, bp. of Narbonne, 5n
Pelagia, 9n, 77
PCrigueux, 75,83n
Perpetuus, bp. of Tours, 8n, 57n
Peter, apostle, 46, 52n, 6811
Peter, deacon and brother of Gregory of
Tours, 57n
Plato, bp. of Poitiers, 22n
Poitiers, xii-xiii, xv, 3-4, 39-40,43, 78
Probatus, archdeacon, xii, xiv, 21
Probianus, bp. of Bourges, 60-1,76
Prudentius, poet, 84
Quiteria, virgin, 8 1

Nantes, xvi, 40,57

Nantulf, 22

Radegund, queen and nun, xii, 3n, 78-8 1

INDEX
Ragnimodus, bp. of Paris, 67
Ravenna, 32n
Reccared, king of Visigoths, 12n
Remigius, bp. of Rheims, 58-9
Rennes, xvi, 40,57n
Reticius, bp. of Autun, 54-5
Rezt, 40
Rheims, 58-9
Riez, 64
Riom, 6,26,27n
Rions, 37
Romanus, priest, 36
Rome, xii, xv, 27n, 32,45n,46,47n,
66-7n, 73n
Ruricius, bp. of Limoges, 38n
rusticitas,xix
Sacerdos, bp. of Lyon, 44n
Sagunto, 11
Saint-AndCol,4n
Saint-Bonnet, 6
Saint-Branchs, 14n
Saint-Cyprien, 75n
Saint-Germain des Pr&, 6811
Saint-Justin-de-Pardiac,37
Saint-Lizier, 64
Saint-Marcel-12s-Chalon,65n
Saint-Memmie, 49n
Saint-Seine-L' Abbaye, 67n
Saint-Senoch, 22n
Saint-Sever-de-Rustan, 38n
Saint-Yrieix, 9n
Sainte-Maure, 16n
Saintes, xiii, 41-3
Saragossa, 68n
Saturninus, martyr, 5n, 16-17, 17-1811
Saujon, 41n
Selles-sur-Cher, 64n
Senoch, abbot, 22
Sequanus, abbot, 67
Servatius, bp. of Tongres and
Maastricht, 52n

97

Seven Sleepers, x
Severinus, bp. of Bordeaux, 35
Severus, priest, 37-39
Seville, 11-12n
Sidonius, bp. of Clermont, 27n
Sigibert, king of Franks, 11-12n, 51,
52n,71n
Sigismund, king of Burgundians, 74n
Silvester, bp. of Chalon-sur-Saane, 65-6
Similinus, priest, 37
Simplicius, bp. of Autun, 55-6
Soissons, xvii, 20n, 22n, 71
Sollemnis, 18
Sollemnis, bp. of Chartres, 18n
Solomon, 55
Spain, ix, xii, xv, 11, 50,6811, 81n
Stephen, martyr, 53,53n
Stremonius, bp. of Clermont, 5n, 24
Sueves, 11-12n
Sulpicius Severus, historian, 5-611, 1718n, 31n, 38n, 83n
Sulpicius, bp. of Bourges, 76n
Syagrius, king of Romans, 20n
Symeon, stylite, xv, 22, 23n
Symphorianus, martyr, 56,60,61n
Syria, 23n
Tarbes, 37
Tetricus, bp. of Langres, 81
Theodorus, bp. of Saint-Lizier, 65
Theomastus (Thaumastus), bp. of
Mainz, 3 9 4 0
Therasia, 81-2
Theudebald, king of Franks, 24-51
Theudebert I, king of Franks, 70
Theudebert 11, king of Franks, 7 In
Theudechild, 32
Theuderic, king of Franks, 32n
Thuringia, 78n
Tobit, 32
Toledo, 12n
Tongres, 52n

98

INDEX

Tonnerre, 10,66-7n
Toulouse, 5n
Tours, ix, xi-xiii, xv-xvii, 5, 8-1 1, 1315, 18-22,28n, 31n, 36, 38n,41,
42,57n, 68n,71n, 72,79n, 83n
Tranquillus, bp., 34
Trier, xiii, xvi, 70
Trojanus, bp. of Saintes, 42-3
Trophimus, bp. of Arles, 5n
Troyes, xiii, 32n, 49
Two Lovers, xviii, 26
Uranius, 83n
Ursinus, bp. of Bourges, 5941,6811
Valerius, bp. of Saint-Lizier, 64-5

Vandals, 12n
Vectius Epagatus (Vettius Epagathus),
69n
Velay, 27
Venantius, abbot, 9n, 13
Venerandus, bp. of Clemont, 27-8
Vercelli, xiii, 4
Verdun, xii
Victorius (Victurius), bp. of L.e Mans,
41
Victurius (Victorius), duke, 26
Victurius, bp. of Rennes, 57n
Vincentius, martyr, 68
Visigoths, ix, 2011,27n, 37
Vitalina, virgin, 6-8
Vivianus: see Bibianus